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DOMESTIC    LIFE 


PALESTINE. 


BY 


MARY  ELIZA  EOGEES. 


CINCINNATI: 

PUBLISHED    BY    POE    &    HITCHCOCK 


R.    P.    THOMPSON,    PRINTER. 
1865. 


ATJTHOE^S  PEEFAOE. 


While  residing  in  Palestine,  I  was  placed  in  cir- 
cumstances which  gave  me  unusual  facilities  for  ob- 
serving the  inner  phases  of  Oriental  Domestic  Life. 
I  mingled  freely  with  the  people,  of  all  creeds  and 
classes,  and  daily  became  better  acquainted  with  their 
habits  and  modes  of  thought.  The  women  especially 
interested  me,  and  I  gleaned  many  facts  concerning 
them,  which  have  never  hitherto  been  published,  and 
probably  have  never  been  collected. 

The  pleasure  which  my  Notes  and  Journal  afforded 
to  members  of  my  home-circle,  on  my  return  to  En- 
gland, led  me  to  think  that,  possibly,  my  countrymen 
would  like  to  gain  a  further  insight  into  the  mysteries 
of  Eastern  life.  Hence  it  was  that  I  resolved  to  pub- 
lish this  volume.  In  compiling  it  I  have  avoided,  as 
much  as  possible,  those  subjects  with  which  the  pub- 
lic are  already  familiar.  Descriptions  of  well-known 
places  are  only  given  when  they  are  necessary  to 
form  an  introduction  or  background  to  those  scenes 
of  real  life  which  I  have  attempted  to  portray. 

To  avoid  complication,  I   speak  of  the  people  of 


4  PREFACE. 

Palestine  generally  as  Arabs;  for,  though  they  are 
a  mixed  race,  they,  all  call  themselves  "Arabs"  or 
"  Sons  of  the  Arabs,"  and  Arabic  is  their  mother- 
tongue.  I  classify  them  only  according  to  their 
creeds;  but  I  may  here  mention,  that  the  Chris- 
tians of  the  land  are  said  to  be  of  pure  Syrian  ori- 
gin, while  the  Moslems  are  chiefly  descended  from 
the  Arabians,  who  settled  in  the  towns  and  villages 
of  Syria  and  Palestine  in  the  seventh  and  eighth 
centuries. 

p  In  preparing  this  volume  for  the  press,  I  have  had 
the  valuable  assistance  of  my  brother,  Mr.  E.  T. 
Rogers,  Her  British  Majesty's  Consul  at  Damascus, 
and  have  enjoyed  the  opportunity  of  personally  con- 
sulting him.  He  has  suggested  a  few  alterations  in 
the  orthography  of  Oriental  titles  and  names  of  per- 
sons aiyi  places,  and  has  added  a  few  notes  of  ex- 
planation, which  are  distinguished  by  his  initials. 

M.  E.  R. 

21  SoHo  Square,  London. 


COITTEK"TS 


CHAPTER   I. 

From  London  to  the  Levant — Yafa,  the  ancient  Joppa,  in  sight — 
The  Quarantine  Boat — Landing  in  Palestine — The  Quarantine  Station — 
Breakfast  in  Yafa — Arab  Ladies'  Toilette — Salutations  and  Kisses — Sit 
Leah  and  her  First-born  Son — Fruit  Gardens  of  Yafa — ''  Ai-wa!" — 
Guest-chamber  at  Ramleh — Lepers — The  Hill  Country  of  Judea — "  Vil- 
lage of  Grapes  " — "  Fountain  of  Birds  " — Jewish  Builders  and  Greek 
Gardeners — First  Sight  of  Jerusalem — Arrival  at  the  Talibiyeh — Tent 
Life,  and  the  Consul's  Children Pages  17-40 

CHAPTER   II. 

Jerusalem — Church  of  the  Knights  of  St.  John — Glow-worms — 
Bishop  Gobat's  Encampment — Holman  Hunt's  Goat — Sunday  on  Mount 
Zion — Bazars  and  Shopkeepers — Girls  of  Bethany  and  Siloam — A  Wan- 
dering Madman — Moresque  Buildings — View  from  the  Seraglio — Euro- 
pean Homes  in  Jerusalem — Native  Servants — A  Whirlwind  at  Night — 
The  Convent  of  the  Cross — Mosaic  Pavement 41-55 

CHAPTER   III. 

Learning  Arabic — Carriage  Roads — Ride  to  Bethlehem ;  that  is,  Beit 
Lahm — The  Convent  and  its  Shrines — Population  of  Beit  Lahm — The 
Carver  of  Beit  Lahm— His  wife  and  Child— The  Vail  of  Ruth—"  The 
Mother  of  Joseph " — Description  of  House  and  Furniture — Note  on 
Mark  ii — The  Fields  of  Boaz — Milk  Grotto  Miracles — Girls  of  Beit 
Lahm — Bedouins  on  the  Move — The  Gardens  of  Solomon — The  Cottage 
in  the  Valley — Urtas — The  Reservoir — Aqueducts  and  Chariot  Roads — 
Reeds — Remedy  for  Musketo  Bites 56-74 

CHAPTER   IV. 

Rainbows  and  Bee  Catchers — Philip's  Fountain — A  Runaway  Horse — 
Katrine  and  her  Delusions — Start  for  Haifa — The  little  Lame  Girl  of 

5 


6  CONTENTS. 

Kubab — Siesta  at  Ramleh — The  Abyssinian  Slave — The  Bedouin's  Song 
to  his  Camel — Sunday  at  Yafa — "  There  cometh  a  Shower  " — Exhibi- 
tion of  a  Performing  Goat — Circumcision — Making  Bread — Scenes  in  ap- 
Arab  Sailing  Boat — The  Custom-house  at  Tantura — Ruins  of  Dora  and 
Athlite — A  Wedding  Party — Cradles — **  Locusts  and  Wild  Honey  "— 
The  Monks  of  Mount  Carmel— Haifa Pages  75-99 

CHAPTER   V. 

Greetings  at  the  Gate  at  Night — Our  House  and  Servants — The  Poor 
Widow's  Petition — People  of  Haifa — Siege  of  Haifa — Retreat  of  the 
Tlrehites — Help  from  an  English  Ship — A  False  Alarm — Wedding  at 
the  Greek  Church — Wedding  Procession — Songs  and  Dances — Going 
forth  to  meet  the  Bridegroom  at  Night — Professional  Bride  Dressers — 
Turkish  Baths — Kohl  and  Henna — Angelina  and  the  Clergy  of  Haifa — 
Denunciation  of  Black  Lace  Mittens — The  Bazar  on  a  Night  of  Rejoic- 
ing— Jane  Eyre  and  Arab  Story-tellers — An  important  Question — Yas- 
sin  Agha  and  his  two  Wives — Mohammed  Bek  and  his  Wife  Miriam — 
Sheikh  Abdallah  and  his  seven  Wives — *'  The  Holder  of  the  Keys  " — A 
Hint  to  Polygamists — A  Divination  Dictionary,  or  Dream  Book — My 
Dream  interpreted — Hannah  and  Penninah — A  Market  Garden — Afri- 
can Maniac  among  the  Tombs 100-126 

CHAPTER   VI. 

To  Nazareth ;  that  is,  Nasirah — The  River  Kishon — "  Daughters  of 
Sound" — A  Village  Oven — The  Birthplace  of  Saleh's  Mare — Hidden 
Treasures  and  Treasure  Trove — Necromancy  and  Clairvoyants — Saleh's 
little  Sister — Congregation  at  the  Latin  Church — Costumes  of  the  People 
of  Nasirah — Reputation  of  Nasirah — Willow-pattern  Cheese-plates — A 
Hint  to  Decorators — Mount  Tabor — Erinna,  the  Hermit,  and  "  his  Man 
Friday  " — Reeds  and  Inkhorns — Dinner  by  the  Streamlet — Sephoris — 
The  Crusaders — Stephani's  Guest-chamber — Dances,  Songs,  and  Sup- 
per— The  Greek  and  Latin  Clergy — Castle  of  Shefa  'Amer — The  Gov- 
ernor's Harem — Lament  of  the  Senior  Wife — Native  Schools — Jewish 
Synagogue — The  Olive  Harvest — Cotton  Fields  in  the  Plain  of  'Akka — 
Productiveness  of  the  Plain 127-160 

CHAPTER   VII. 

**  New  brooms  sweep  clean  '* — Death  at  Midnight — The  Moslem 
Ker — Armenian  Remedies  for  Cholera — Note  on  the  "  Early  and  Lat- 
ter Rain"  —  Panic  in  Haifa  —  "The  Yellow  Wind"  —  Suleiman  the 
Tailor — Quarantine  at  the  Convent — A  Dream  and  its  Consequences — 
**  Imps  of  the  Yellow  Wind  " — Rain — Our  new  House — Contents  of  the 


CONTENTS.  7 

Store-room— Reverence  for  Bread — Death  of  Ibrahim— Funeral  Proces- 
sion— The  Mother's  Grief  and  Death — Funeral  Service — The  "Widower 
Khalil  and  his  Young  Bride — Elias  Sekhali — Government  of  Syria- 
Death  of  Elias — The  Widow  and  her  Children — Songs  and  Lamenta- 
tions for  the  Dead — Funeral  Dances — Death  of  Khalil — Funeral  Ora- 
tions  Pages  161-185 

CHAPTER   VIII. 

Sparrows  on  the  Housetops — Grass-grown  Roofs — "  Poterium  Spino- 
sum  " — The  Crown  of  Thorns — Harvest  on  the  Roofs — My  Bedouin  Vis- 
itors— Katrine  Sekhali  and  her  Cousin — The  White  Mare  and  the  Sap- 
phire Bead — Our  Egyptian  Groom  Mohammed — The  Wandering  Herds- 
men—  Bedouin  Depredations — The  Horse-Guards  of  Galilee  —  Supper 
with  Salihh  Agha — Salihh  Agha's  little  Son — Wrestling — A  Home  at 
Shefa  'Amer — Women  at  the  Bakehouse — The  Lizard — Bedouin  Eye- 
sight— A  Gazelle  Hunt — A  Bedouin  Dinner — Crabs  on  the  Seashore — 
Moslem  and  Christian  Prayers  at  Sunset — Persecution  of  Jews — Char- 
acteristics of  Arab  Children — My  Moslem  Teacher — Explanation  of  the 
Use  of  the  Rosary  —  A  Moslem  Freethinker  —  Christening  of  Jules 
Aumann — Fete  at  the  French  Consulate — The  African  Foot  Messen- 
ger—Saleh  Bek's  Good-by 186-214 

CHAPTER  IX. 

Katrine  and  her  Scapulary — Preparations  for  a  Journey — A  Bedouin 
Encampment — Bedouin  Women — Bedouin  Bread-making — Moslem  Vil- 
lages— Seeking  a  Night's  Lodging — Women  of  Kefr  Kara — The  Blind 
Man's  Questions  —  Conjecture  Concerning  the  *' Nativity"  and  the 
"  Manger  " — Morning  Visitors — Ah  Encampment  of  Gipsies — Jugglery 
and  Gymnastics — Government  of  Nablus — Arrabeh — The  Divan — The 
Harem — Helweh  the  Youngest  Wife — Dinner:  Starch  and  Conserve  of 
Roses — Curious  Inquiries — A  Marriage  Portion — Songs  of  Rejoicing — 
Discussion  about  the  Queen  of  England — A  War  Song — A  Mother  and 
her  Infant  Son — Preparation  for  a  Night's  Rest  in  the  Harem — The 
Lord's  Prayer  and  the  Moslem  Women — Moslem  Prayers  and  Saluta- 
tions— Scenes  at  Midnight  in  the  Harem — Morning  Visitors 215-255 

CHAPTER  X. 

From  Arrabeh  to  Sentir— Castle  of  Seniir — Ibrahim  Jerrar's  Portrait— 
The  Harem  in  the  Castle — Approach  of  Turkish  Cavalry — Hostilities 
prevented — To  Nablus — A  Price  for  the  Head  of  Ibrahim — Marriage 
among  the  Samaritans— Selameh,  the  aged  Priest — The  Samaritan  Syn- 
agogue—  Home  of  Habib  and  Zora — Anithe  the  Betrothed  —  Samari- 
tan Laws  and  Customs — The    Priesthood — The    Passover — Samaritan 


8  CONTENTS. 

Women — Character  of  the  Samaritans — Taklib  esh  Shellabi — Letter 
from  Priest  Amran — The  Widow  and  her  Son — The  Schoolmaster  in 
search  of  a  Wife— The  Betrothal— Protestants  of  Nablus— The  Ba- 
zars— Sheikh  Mussa — Visit  to  the  Governor  of  Nablus — Test  for  Build- 
ing Stone — Sheikh  Mussa's  Ideas  about  Wisdom  and  Folly — Jacob's 
Well— Search  for  a  Bible  at  the  Bottom  of  the  Well— Joseph's  Tomb — 
False  Alarm — Little  Zahra  and  the  Violets — Oriental  Enjoyments — 
Brothers  and  Sisters — Ibrahim  Pasha  and  the  Woman  of  Sefurieh — 
Wit  Rewarded  —  Dinner  with  Daud  TannAs — The  Women's  Apart- 
ments  Pages  256-296 

CHAPTER   XI. 

To  Jerusalem — Priest  Amran  and  the  Greek  Catholic — My  Escort — A 
Dangerous  Road — Valley  of  Figs — Darkness — The  Lost  Track — Alone 
on  the  Hill-top — The  Nimbus — Arrival  at  Jerusalem  at  Midnight — 
Jerusalem  in  the  Spring — Rain — Flowing  of  the  Kedron — En  Rogel — 
Course  of  the  Kedron — Easter  in  Jerusalem — Birth  of  the  Imperial 
Prince  of  France  proclaimed — Fete  at  the  French  Consulate — Outbreak 
at  Nablus — Attack  on  the  Christians — Rescue  of  the  Rev.  S.  Lyde — 
Celebration  of  Peace — Sham  Fight — Sieges  of  Jerusalem — The  Holy 
Fire — Greek  and  Armenian  Pilgrims — "  Bishop  of  the  Holy  Fire  " — 
Fight  of  the  Fanatics — Turkish  Soldiers — Confessions  of  a  Greek 
Priest— Truth—Fire  Worshipers 297-329 

CHAPTER   XII. 

Peasant  Girls — Harvest  of  Roses — Caverns — Rules  for  the  Observance 
of  Ramadan — Sir  M.  Montefiore's  Schools  for  Jewesses — Sale  by  *'the 
Uncounted  Group  " — Urtas — Peter  Meshullam — An  Arab  Encampment — 
Dar  el  Benat,  the  House  of  Girls — Solomon's  Harem — My  Home  on 
Mount  Olivet— The  Sheikh  of  EI  Tur— His  Wives  and  Children— A 
Moslem  Funeral — Tombs  of-  the  Prophets — Skirmishes  on  Olivet — Fare- 
well Fete  at  Urtas 330-359 

CHAPTER    XIII. 

Abu  Ghosh — Art  and  Poetry  of  the  Modern  Arabs — Education  of  Na- 
tive Girls — The  Sea-shore  and  the  Sanctuary — Moslem  Call  to  Prayer — 
Edwin  Arnold — Melon  Harvest — Ruins  of  Caesarea — The  River  of  Croc- 
odiles— A  Fable — Wreck  of  an  Arab  Boat — Hebrew  Boy  adopted  by 
Bedouins — Stone  Quarries — Prayers  at  a  Moslem  Village — Village  Sup- 
per— A  Piano  at  Haifa — My  Moslem  Friends  from  Arrabeh — Saleh  Bek 
and  his  Children — Home  of  the  Gardener's  Daughter — Chess — New 
Ideas  in  Saleh  Bek's  Harem— Helweh's  Questions— Jews— An  Earth- 


CONTENTS.  9 

quake — Widow  and  her  Children — Day  of  Ill-luck — Feast  of  "  Sainte 
Barbe  " — Force  of  Custom — Helweh  and  her  First-born  Child — Saleh 
Bek's  Perplexities  about  the  Education  of  his  Daughters — Thoughts 
about  Moslem  Women  —  Missionajies  —  The  Day  of  Congratulation — 
Society  for  the  Diffusion  of  Useful  Knowledge — Yassin  Agha's  Petition 
and  Proposal Pages  360-398 

CHAPTER    XIV. 

Fete  of  the  Corpus  Domini — The  Bahjeh — Furrah  Giammal  and  her 
Love-Letter — Lebibeh  in  her  New  Home — Carmella  and  her  African 
Attendant — Women  of  Damascus  contrasted  with  the  Women  of  Haifa — 
Bastrina — Winter  at  Jerusalem — Surreya  Pasha — Houses  of  Jerusalem 
numbered — Russian  Influence  in  Palestine — Dr.  Levisohn  and  the  Sa- 
maritan Pentateuch — Visit  of  Prince  Alfred — Refugees  from  Arrabeh — - 
Appeal  for  Protection — Dakhal — Prisoners  from  Arrabeh — The  Gover- 
nor's Demand  for  my  Proteges — His  Forbearance — The  Boys  taken 
Prisoners  and  conveyed  to  'Akka — Farewell  to  Haifa — Miss  Bremer — 
"Russian  Steamer — Fete  of  the  Grand  Duke  Constantino — The  Bishop's 
Benediction — Feast  for  the  Pilgrims — The  S.  S.  Demetrius — Jew  of 
Aleppo — Collision — Rabbi  Shaayea's  Timidity — "  Hallo,  Jack  I" — The 
Captain  and  Solomon — Shaayea  Missing — Fruitless  Search  for  Shaa- 
yea— Official  Inquiry 399-436 


IIJfTEODUOTIOK 


During  a  recent  brief  sojourn  in  London,  I  had  the 
pleasure  of  meeting,  several  times,  the  genial  and  tal- 
ented writer  of  this  volume ;  and  received  from  her  the 
exclusive  privilege  of  republishing  her  work  on  this 
side  of  the  Atlantic. 

■  The  old  land  of  Canaan  is  still  dear  to  the  Church, 
and,  although  so  many  volumes  of  travel  and  research 
in  that  region  have  been  written,  we  take  up  the  new 
with  undiminished  interest.  The  land  is  to  all  Chris- 
tians more  like  home  than  any  other  spot  on  earth.  The 
most  precious  memories,  the  purest  love,  the  most 
blessed  hopes  of  life,  are  the  products  of  that  Gospel 
which  first  budded  and  bloomed  in  Canaan.  The  names 
of  its  cities,  and  valleys,  and  streams,  and  mountains, 
are  reminders  of  the  most  wonderful  and  thrilling  inci- 
dents which  the  history  of  the  world  records.  Think 
of  Bethlehem,  Nazareth,  Jordan,  and  Jerusalem;  put 
your  finger  on  Tabor  and  Olivet,  as  you  scan  the  sacred 
map,  and  how  are  you  overwhelmed  with  sacred  recol- 
lections !  Each  name  starts  through  your  mind  a  mar- 
velous panorama. 

Canaan  is  also  the  type  of  the  eternal  land  toward 
which  with  insatiate  longing  we  daily  journey. 

Blessed  Canaan !     While  the  memory  and   love  of 

Jesus  linger  in  the  hearts  of  men,  and  while  hope  points 

11 


•12         •   :.*:.'•*.•..'    INTKODUCTION. 

to  the  "  rest  prepared  for  the  people  of  God,"  thy  cities 
and  mountains  shall  be  dearer  to  the  Christian  than  his 
native  land  or  the  home  of  his  childhood. 

The  struggle  raging  to-day  between  rationalism  and 
Evangelism  imparts  additional  interest  to  the  old  geo- 
graphical center  of  historic  Christianity.  He  who 
represents  the  New  Testament  records  as  mere  myths 
is  confronted  by  the  stubborn  denial  of  the  land  itself, 
as  it  stands  to-day,  a  monument  and  testimony  to  the 
literal  accuracy  of  the  Holy  Book.  Sacred  names  cling 
to  the  ruins  that  crown  every  hill-top.  Caves,  tombs, 
temples,  mosques,  fountains,  pools,  and  roads,  are  bur- 
dened with  sacred  associations.  The  land  singularly 
retains  its  geographical  conformation,  its  primitive  and 
Scriptural  modes  of  architecture,  dress,  labor,  and  social 
habits.  It  might  easily  have  been  utterly  desolated  and 
depopulated,  and  its  remains  scattered  to  the  four  winds. 
It  might  have  been  richly  cultivated,  and  under  the  full 
flowing  tide  of  civilization  its  traces  of  earlier  times 
might  have  been  completely  covered  up  and  rendered 
unrecognizable.  But  God  has  kept  the  land.  Over  the 
hills  of  Gibeon  and  the  vale  of  Aijalon  has  the  sun  of 
progress  stood  still,  and,  while  the  rest  of  the  world  has 
been  moving  onward,  Palestine  yet  lingers  among  the 
earlier  centuries,  and  amidst  its  sacred  and  venerable 
scenes  we  feel  the  presence  of  an  ancient  dominion. 
The  mummy  wrappings  of  Mohammedan  domination 
have  providentially  preserved  it  till  this  age  of  skep- 
ticism, that  it  may  testify  to  the  reality  of  a  Divine 
revelation.  It  is  a  memorial  land,  seamed  and  scarred 
with  the  rough  handling  of  centuries,  but  bearing  still 
the  legible  imprint  of  the  Divine  finger.  Its  terraced 
hills  yield  a  vintage  of  sacred  memories.     Its  valleys 


INTRODUCTION.  13 

flow  with  streams  of  testimony.  Every  rock  cries  out 
in  bitter  remonstrance  against  the  unbelief  of  men. 
Every  stone  voices  the  praise  of  God.  Palestine  is 
more  than  a  land  of  memories.  It  is  a  memorial  land, 
as  well. 

Every  volume  that  illustrates  this  harmony  between 
the  land  and  the  book  is  an  invaluable  contribution  to 
sacred  literature.  The  field  is  still  open.  We  some- 
times think,  for  example,  that  the  topography  of  Jeru- 
salem is  an  exhausted  subject.  But  we  forget  that  the 
Jerusalem  of  to-day  stands  upon  a  mass  of  ruins  and 
debris  thirty  or  forty  feet  in  depth.  What  a  kindling 
of  the  fires  of  antiquarian  controversy,  and  what  valu- 
able developments  are  yet  in  store  for  us  when  the 
Crescent  wanes  from  Zion,  and  the  city  becomes  another 
Pompeii  for  excavation  and  research ! 

In  no  department  of  eastern  exploration  does  the 
Bible  student  acquire  more  instructive  lessons  than  in 
that  pertaining  to  the  domestic  habits  of  the  people. 
The  Scripture  narrative  enters  largely  into  the  details 
of  social  life.  The  old  customs  have  not  changed  ma- 
terially, and  one  can  to-day  reproduce  the  incidents  of 
social  life  so  graphically  described  in  the  Bible.  Abra- 
ham still  sits  in  the  door  of  his  tent ;  Ruth  gleans  after 
the  reapers  on  the  plains  of  Bethlehem,  and  on  these 
plains  shepherds  keep  watch  over  their  flocks  by  night. 
Isaac  meditates  at  eventide.  Rachel  descends  from 
her  camel  and  covers  her  beautiful  face  with  the  ample 
vail  before  she  meets  her  lord.  The  marriage  feast  is 
still  kept  in  Cana.  The  mourners  with  wailing  follow 
the  bier  to  the  grave.  Salutations  are  exchanged 
among  the  people  as  in  the  days  of  Abraham  and 
Christ. 


14  INTRODUCTION. 

The  seclusion  of  the  women,  through  the  jealousy 
of  their  lords,  renders  it  quite  difficult  for  the  casual 
traveler  to  gain  access  to  the  inner  courts  of  Oriental 
houses.  Conversation  with  the  ladies  of  the  harem  is 
a  thing  impossible.  Missionaries  do  not  enjoy  much 
greater  facilities  than  transient  visitors.  They  are  the 
bearers  of  a  new  and  hostile  religion,  and  harem  doors 
are  securely  shut  against  them. 

It  is  in  the  fullness  of  the  information,  which  Miss 
Rogers  gives  us  concerning  these  unexplored  Moslem 
homes,  that  we  find  the  chief  value  of  her  work.  She 
possesses  rare  qualities  of  character,  and  during  the 
three  years  of  her  residence  in  Palestine  enjoyed  the 
amplest  facilities  for  the  observations  she  desired  to 
make.  Her  brother  was  British  Consul  at  Haifa,  and 
was  popular  among  the  natives  from  Nazareth  to  Jeru- 
salem. She  was  scrupulously  careful  never  to  offend 
the  religious  prejudices  of  the  people,  and  as  she  was 
their  guest,  not  only  received  from  them  the  most  cor- 
dial hospitality,  but  was  permitted  to  converse  freely 
with  women  of  all  classes  and  ranks.  Miss  Rogers  is 
an  artist,  and  many  a  time  won  her  way  to  hearts  of 
sheikh  and  warrior  by  her  accurate  sketches ;  the  wit 
of  her  pencil  now  and  then  provoking  bursts  of  merri- 
ment from  the  immovable  old  Orientals  who  entertained 
her.  This  artistic  gift  renders  her  descriptions  graphic 
and  circumstantial,  thus  fairly  photographing  on  her 
pages  the  domestic  scenes  she  presents.  Of  quick  per- 
ceptions, unwearying  perseverance,  an  inexhaustible 
stock  of  good-humor,  a  heart  full  of  humanity,  with  a 
frank  and  fearless  manner,  she  was  admirably  adapted 
to  perform  the  work  she  undertook. 

With  special  pleasure  do  I  call  the  attention  of  the 


INTRODUCTION.  15 

American  public  to  this  unpretentious  and  entertaining 
volume,  believing  that  it  will  not  only  furnish  pleasure 
to  every  reader,  but  that  it  must  contribute  to  the 
clearer  understanding  of  the  Scriptures,  and  serve  as 
another  bulwark  in  defending  historic  Christianity 
against  the  vain  speculations  and  unholy  plottings  of 
rationalism  and  infidelity. 

J.  H.  V. 

Truqty  Parsonage,       ) 
OhicagOj  111.,  Jan.j  1865.  J 


DOMESTIC  LIFE  IE  PALESTINE. 


CHAPTER  I. 

FROM  LONDON  TO  YAFA. 

The  good-byes  and  farewell  greetings  on  board  the 
Bhine,  at  London  Bridge,  on  the  night  of  the  14th  of 
June,  1855,  need  not  be  recorded  here.  At  midnight  the 
tide  was  favorable,  the  bell  rang,  the  steam  was  up,  linger- 
ing friends  hurried  away,  and  I  found  myself  alone  with  my 
brother.  He  had  been  enjoying  a  few  months  in  England, 
after  having  spent  more  than  six  years  in  consular  service 
in  Syria,  and  I  had  gladly  consented  to  accompany  him,  on 
his  return  to  his  official  duties.  We  landed  at  Boulogne 
the  next  day,  and  arrived  at  Marseilles,  in  time  to  embark 
by  the  Egyptus,  on  the  morning  of  the  21st  of  June.  We 
passed  through  the  Straits  of  Bonifacio  on  the  22d,  at  mid- 
day; and  on  Sunday,  the  24th,  spent  a  few  hours  ashore 
at  Malta. 

On  Thursday  morning  we  landed  at  Alexandria,  and 
after  seeing  Said  Pasha's  palace,  Cleopatra's  needle,  and 
Pompey's  pillar,  went  on  board  the  Tage,  on  the  evening 
of  Friday,  the  29th.  It  was  crowded  with  passengers, 
Greeks,  Syrians,  Turks,  and  Jews,  who  were  leaving  Alex- 
andria on  account  of  the  outbreak  of  cholera  there.  The 
sunset-gun  flashed  from  the  fort  as  the  steamer  glided  out 
of  the  harbor. 

We  remained  on  deck  till  a  late  hour,  listening  to  the 
animated  songs  of  the  Greek  sailors,  who  were  celebrating 

2  17 


18  DOMESTIC  LIFE   IN  PALESTINE. 

the  festival  of  their  patron  saint,  Paul.  The  deck  passen- 
gers were  trying  to  make  themselves  comfortable  for  the 
night,  and  soon  men,  women,  and  children,  Moslems,  Chris- 
tians, and  Jews,  wrapped  up  closely  in  carpets,  cloaks,  and 
wadded  quilts,  looked  like  gigantic  chrysalises  crowded 
together  in  the  moonlight. 

We  were  in  the  cozy  little  deck  saloon  soon  after  dawn 
on  the  following  day;  and,  when  the  sailors  came  to  wash 
the  decks,  I  was  sorry  to  see  the  motley  crowd  of  sleepers 
disturbed,  and  pushed  hither  and  thither,  as  they  tried  to 
save  themselves  and  their  baggage  from  saturation. 

We  watched  the  sun  rise  out  of  the  sea,  which  was  sud- 
denly changed  from  gray  to  gold,  while  the  lead-colored 
sky  was  crimsoned — but  the  land  I  was  longing  to  see  was 
not  in  sight. 

The  next  morning,  July  1st,  I  was  roused  by  the 
joyful  news  that  we  were  approaching  the  shore,  and  was 
soon  on  deck,  looking  with  strange  delight  and  emotion 
over  the  blue  sea  to  the  coast  of  Palestine,  stretching  far 
away  north  and  south  in  low,  undulating  lines.  The  pic- 
turesque walled  town  of  Y^fa — the  ancient  Joppa — was  im- 
mediately before  me,  with  its  white  stone-houses  built  down 
to  the  water's  edge,  and  rising  one  above  another  on  a 
rounded  hill  sloping  to  the  sea. 

My  brother  said,  "  Look  far  into  the  east,  a  little  toward 
the  south,  where  the  sun  has  just  risen.  Those  distant 
hills  which  are  now  almost  lost  in  bright  mist  are  the 
hills  of  Judea,  '  the  hills  round  about  Jerusalem,'  and  from 
their  summits  you  will  have  the  first  view  of  the  Holy 
City.  They  are  separated  from  these  low  coast  hills  by 
the  broad,  fertile  plains  of  Sharon  and  Philistia."  He  re- 
minded me  how  the  pines  and  cedars  of  Lebanon  were 
brought  "  in  floats  hy  sea  to  Joppa^^^  and  thence  carried  up 
to  Jerusalem,  for  the  building  of  the  Temple. 

This  ancient  port,  with  its  bustling  quay,  its  large  con- 
vents, tall  minarets,  palm-trees,  and  extensive  gardens,  is 
the   only   cheerful   and    animated    spot    on    the    somewhat 


JOPPA— THE   QUARANTINE   BOAT.  19 

monotonous  coast,  which  runs  in  an  almost  unbroken  line 
from  the  bold  headland  of  Mount  Carmel,  about  fifty  miles 
north,  to  the  ruins  of  Gaza,  forty  miles  south. 

We  were  soon  at  anchor  just  outside  a  semicircular  belt 
of  rocks,  some  of  which  rose  dark  and  high  out  of  the 
water,  while  others  had  sunk  beneath  its  surface,  and  were 
only  indicated  by  the  dashing  of  the  surf  over  them.  This 
rocky  belt  stands  like  a  barrier  in  front  of  the  town,  and 
forms  a  natural  harbor  of  about  fifty  feet  in  width,  but  it 
is  only  entered  by  small  boats,  and  affords  no  protection  in 
bad  weather.  Tradition  connects  the  names  of  Perseus  and 
Andromeda  with  these  rugged  rocks.  Two  Austrian  war 
steamers  were  at  anchor  near  to  us.  They  were  waiting 
the  pleasure  of  the  Archduke  Maximilian  and  his  suite, 
who  were  then  in  Jerusalem.  A  few  merchant  vessels, 
Greek  and  French,  were  also  to  be  seen,  and  little  Arab 
boats  were  plying  to  and  fro. 

A  quarantine  boat,  containing  an  officer  and  garde  de 
sante^  was  towed  along  side,  and  baskets  of  oranges,  apricots, 
and  lemons,  were  taken  on  board.  A  beautiful  branch  of 
an  orange-tree,  covered  with  glossy  leaves,  and  laden  with 
ripe  fruit,  was  handed  to  me.  It  was  a  difficult  matter  to 
get  into  the  little  quarantine  boat  destined  to  convey  us  to 
the  shore,  for  the  breeze  was  fresh,  and  a  heavy  swell 
disturbed  the  sea.  The  Arab  sailors  in  the  towing  boat 
would  not  touch  the  boat  they  were  employed  to  tow,  even 
to  render  necessary  assistance,  lest  they  should  be  compro- 
mised, and  imprisoned  in  the  quarantine  station.  After 
many  vain  attempts,  we,  with  two  Franciscan  monks,  and 
our  baggage,  were  lowered  clumsily  into  the  clumsy  boat, 
and  narrowly  escaped  a  fall  into  the  sea ;  and  when  free 
from  the  Tage,  we  were  dragged  along  boisterously.  The 
little  towing  boat  was  quite  hidden  from  us  now  and  then, 
as  it  bounded  over  a  wave,  leaving  us  on  the  other  side  of 
it.  As  we  approached  the  belt  of  rocks,  I  felt  that  it  was 
impossible  to  escape  being  dashed  to  pieces,  and  while 
steering  through  the  narrow  pass  I  was   silent  with  fear; 


20  DOMESTIC  LIFE  IN  PALESTINE. 

but  the  seeming  danger  was  soon  over.  Within  the  belt, 
the  water  was  smooth  as  a  lake,  and  once  more  I  looked 
with  delight  on  the  scenes  around  me.  There  are  two 
openings  in  the  line  of  rocks ;  one  toward  the  north,  and 
one  due  west.  We  had  entered  at  the  latter;  I  felt  the 
boat  grating  on  the  rocks  beneath  us. 

It  was  now  half-past  eight,  and  the  quays  were  already 
crowded  with  people,  mostly  in  the  brilliant  native  cos- 
tumes, but  there  were  a  few  Franks  in  the  usual  Levantine 
dress,  which  is  white  from  head  to  foot.  Flags  were  wav- 
ing from  the  consulates  and  from  the  convents,  as  well  as 
from  the  ships,  for  it  was  Sunday,  and  the  place  had  quite 
a  holiday  appearance. 

We  passed  in  front  of  the  town,  toward  the  quarantine 
station,  which  is  an  isolated  building,  a  little  distance  be- 
yond the  walls  on  the  southern  side. 

Friendly  voices  from  the  shore  welcomed  my  brother, 
in  Arabic,  Italian,  French,  and  English.  When  we  arrived 
opposite  to  our  destination,  the  boat  was  dragged  toward 
the  sands,  and  the  garde  de  sante,  who  wore  only  a  coarse 
shirt  and  a  girdle,  jumped  knee-deep  into  the  water,  caught 
me  in  his  strong  arms,  and  ran  splashing  through  the  sandy 
sea.  When  we  came  to  land  he  still  ran  on,  and  would 
not  release  me  till  he  placed  me  in  charge  of  another 
garde,  at  the  foot  of  the  rude  steps,  leading  up  the  sandy 
cliff,  to  the  quarantine  station.  Then  he  hastened  back 
to  the  boat  for  my  fellow-travelers,  carrying  them  one 
after  the  other  to  terra  firma. 

I  had  wondered  how  I  should  feel  on  first  landing  in 
Palestine,  but  this  proceeding  quite  took  the  romance  out 
of  the  event.  I  almost  forgot  I  was  in  the  Holy  Land, 
while  fully  realizing  the  fact  of  being  a  prisoner.  As  soon 
as  my  brother  and  the  monks  joined  me,  we  were  led  up 
the  steps,  to  a  door,  which  admitted  us  to  a  square  in- 
closure,  formed  of  low,  flat-roofed  buildings  of  stone,  in  a 
dilapidated  state.  In  the  center  of  the  square,  a  wooden 
shed  covers  a  deep  well,   and  tall,   large-leaved,  thriving 


THE   QUARANTINE    STATION.  21 

mulberry-trees  throw  a  thick  and  welcome  shade  round  it. 
The  station  was  unusually  full,  owing  to  the  outbreak  of 
cholera  in  Egypt. 

Our  fellow-travelers,  the  Franciscans,  were  quartered  on 
some  ecclesiastical  pilgrims,  and  lodged  eight  in  one  room. 

The  only  chamber  which  was  unoccupied  opened  into  a 
little  court-yard  in  the  left-hand  corner  of  the  square,  and 
that  was  allotted  to  us.  It  was  by  no  means  a  pleasant 
lodging,  but  we  determined  to  make  the  best  of  it.  It  was 
about  twelve  feet  square.  The  floor  was  of  stone.  The 
walls  were  whitewashed ;  and  the  door,  which  was  formed 
of  rough  planks,  had  no  fastening  inside.  A  casemented 
window,  with  half  the  glass  out,  looked  toward  the  north, 
and  showed  us  the  blue  sea,  the  rocky  shore,  and  the 
^ southern  wall  of  Yafa  with  its  curious  profile  of  flat-roofed 
houses,  rising  step  by  step  one  above  the  other,  with  here 
and  there  a  minaret  or  a  palm-tree.  Groups  of  children 
were  playing  under  the  trees  near  to  us.  The  prospect  with- 
out somewhat  compensated  for  the  desolate  picture  within. 

There  was  nothing  in  the  room  but  our  luggage,  our 
garde  de  sante,  with  his  long  stick,  thousands  of  flies,  an 
ant's  nest,  and  ourselves. 

I  sat  in  the  narrow  window-seat,  while  my  brother  threw 
himself  on  the  portmanteaus  and  boxes.  For  some  minutes 
we  could  only  laugh  at  each  other,  and  at  the  ridiculous 
position  in  which  we  were  placed.  However,  if  we  had  not 
been  in  excellent  health  and  good  spirits,  it  would  have 
been  a  serious  matter. 

Fortunately  my  brother  was  no  stranger  there,  so  help 
was  at  hand.  Mr.  Kayat,  the  English  Consul — a  native  of 
Syria — sent  his  dragoman,  who  soon  provided  us  with  mat- 
ting, mattresses,  and  wadded  quilts,  of  which  we  made  a 
sort  of  impromptu  divan. 

Soon  afterward  our  kind  friend,  Mr.  Graham,  of  Jeru- 
salem, came  to  see  us.  He  stood  outside  the  window  in 
the  presence  of  the  garde,  who  watched  us  continually.  If 
our  visitor  had    touched    our   hands,  he  would  have  been 


22  DOMESTIC  LIFE  IN  PALESTINE. 

obliged  to  share  our  quarantine  lodging.  Mr.  Grraham  lent 
us  some  of  his  tent  furniture,  cooking  utensils,  etc.,  and 
made  our  abode  more  comfortable. 

When  we  sent  to  the  market  for  provisions,  we  had  to 
put  the  money  in  a  cup  of  water  to  prevent  infection,  but 
we  certainly  looked  more  wholesome  than  any  of  the  dirty 
little  half-naked  messengers  who  executed  our  commissions, 
and  by  whose  aid  we  obtained  fowls,  goat's  milk,  coffee,  rice, 
fruit,  and  vegetables,  at  a  very  reasonable  rate. 

There  were  two  rooms  in  addition  to  ours  opening  into 
the  court-yard.  One  was  occupied  by  a  party  of  Moslem 
travelers,  and  the  other  by  the  Franciscan  pilgrims.  The 
court-yard  was  in  shade  and  cooler  than  the  rooms,  so  with 
one  accord  we  all  took  breakfast  there. 

The  Moslems,  after  pouring  water  over  their  hands 
and  feet,  spread  their  carpets,  prayed,  and  then  sat  round 
a  dish  of  rice,  butter,  and  tomatoes,  putting  their  hands 
together  into  the  dish.  They  ate  rapidly  and  in  silence, 
then  washed  their  hands,  and  smoked  chibouques  and 
narghiles.  The  monks,  who  spoke  French,  Italian,  and 
iSpanish,  invited  us  to  share  some  of  their  conserves  and 
sirups. 

When  the  heat  of  the  day  had  passed,  we  were  allowed 
to  take  a  walk,  accompanied  by  a  garde,  to  prevent  our 
contact  with  human  beings. 

We  gladly  descended  the  steps  of  our  prison,  and  reached 
the  broad  sands.  The  sun  was  going  down,  tinging  the  sea 
and  the  sky,  and  the  white  walls  of  Yafa,  with  a  red  glow. 
We  walked  along  the  shore  toward  the  south,  with  drifted 
sand-hills,  more  or  less  covered  with  vegetation  on  our  left, 
and  the  waves  of  the  sea  approaching  us  on  our  right.  We 
saw  the  skeleton  of  a  camel  half-sunk  in  the  sand,  and 
found  many  shells,  and  dorsal  bones  of  cuttle-fish.  About 
a  mile  from  the  quarantine  station  the  beach  was  entirely 
composed  of  shells,  most  of  them  broken.  The  rocks, 
which  form  natural  jetties,  or  rise  up  out  of  the  beach, 
seem  to  be  a  sort  of  conglomerate  of  sand  and  shells,  in 


BREAKFAST  IN  YAFA.  23 

every  stage  of  hardness.  These  rocks  were  in  appearance 
all  alike,  yet  some  masses  were  as  firm  and  hard  as  marble; 
while  other  parts  crumbled  easily,  and  the  imbedded  shells 
separated  from  the  sand  with  very  little  difficulty.  When 
the  sun  had  quite  disappeared,  the  garde  turned  homeward, 
and  we  obediently  followed.  The  town  was  already  illu- 
minated, and  lights  were  reflected  on  the  quiet  water  from 
the  ships  at  anchor.  The  stars  shone  brightly,  for  night 
succeeds  day  very  rapidly  in  this  latitude,  and  there  is 
scarcely  any  evening  twilight. 

The  boy  who  acted  as  our  cook  and  waiter  had  pre- 
pared our  evening  meal.  It  was  spread  on  the  ground 
under  the  mulberry-trees.  A  lantern  stood  on  a  large 
block  of  stone  close  by^  and  threw  a  flickering  light  upon 
the  various  dishes.  The  salt,  which  was  very  coarse  and 
pungent,  was  served  in  a  smooth  hollow  shell,  to  which  the 
boy  called  our  attention,  that  we  might  applaud  the  con- 
trivance. We  seated  ourselves  on  a  mat  of  reeds.  Bed 
ants,  three-quarters  of  an  inch  long,  were  swarming  around, 
and  cats  came  running  out  of  the  darkness,  eager  to  share 
our  meal. 

Many  pilgrims  and  Bedouins  were  sleeping  on  the  ground, 
in  the  open  air,  and  mattresses  were  spread  on  the  flat  roofs 
or  terraces  of  the  buildings  around. 

No  female  servants  are  employed  in  the  establishment, 
and  there  were  no  women  among  our  fellow-prisoners. 
While  my  brother  strolled  in  the  starlight,  smoking,  I 
prepared  our  room  as  comfortably  as  possible  under  the 
circumstances.  Even  from  our  discomforts  we  extracted 
amusement,  and  at  the  same  time  learned  some  useful  les- 
sons in  the  distinction  of  the  real  and  fancied  necessaries 
of  civilized  life. 

The  next  day  the  quarantine  doctor,  a  Frenchman,  sent 
word  that  he  would  visit  us,  to  ascertain  the  state  of  our 
healths. 

Presently  he  appeared  in  the  little  court-yard,  with  three 
official  attendants.     They  stood  opposite  our  doorway,  care- 


24  DOMESTIC  LIFE  IN  PALESTINE. 

fully  avoiding  contact  with  ourselves  and  the  other  inmates 
of  the  quarantine.  He  greeted  us  with  a  profusion  of  com- 
pliments on  our  healthful  appearance,  and  congratulated 
us  on  having  obtained  the  best  room  in  the  station,  and 
especially  on  having  it  entirely  to  ourselves !  He  left  us 
with  stately  bows,  and,  kissing  his  hand,  said,  "  I  shall 
have  the  pleasure  to  give  you  pratique  to-morrow." 

On  July  3d,  at  half-past  seven,  we  were  set  at  liberty. 
We  gladly  mounted  the  steps  at  the  back  of  the  quaran- 
tine station,  traversed  the  extensive  burial-ground,  and 
passed  the  Government  storehouse,  a  large  building  out- 
side the  town,  where  a  crowd  of  camels  were  waiting  to  be 
relieved  of  their  burdens,  and  women,  vailed  and  shrouded 
in  white  drapery,  were  standing  in  groups,  with  baskets  of 
mulberries  and  grapes  balanced  on  their  heads.  On  our 
left  hand  were  the  moated  and  battlemented  walls  of  Yafa, 
and  on  the  other,  gardens  of  orange  and  lemon  trees,  palms 
and  pomegranates,  which  threw  a  checkered  shade  upon 
the  sandy  ground.  We  soon  came  to  the  broad  road, 
just  outside  the  town-gate,  where  camels  and  peasants, 
mules  and  muleteers,  were  congregated,  and  a  bustling 
market  of  fruit  and  vegetables  was  being  held.  Booths 
and  tents,  sheltering  turbaned  and  tarbouched  smokers, 
were  pitched  under  tall  trees;  and  the  itinerant  vendors 
of  coffee,  sherbet,  and  glowing  charcoal — ready  to  light  the 
hundreds  of  pipes  and  narghiles  around — seemed  to  be  in 
great  request. 

In  passing  under  the  archway  into  the  toWn,  we  had 
to  walk  carefully,  to  avoid  getting  entangled  in  the  camel- 
ropes.  I  was  glad  to  find  shelter  from  the  burning  sun  in 
the  bazars,  which  are  long  arcades,  shaded  overhead  with 
cloth  or  matting,  with  little  open  shops  on  each  side.  In 
many  of  them  were  shoemakers,  cutting  out  yellow  morocco 
slippers,  or  heavy  red  leather  boots — tailors,  marking  out 
graceful  patterns  for  gold  embroidery — pipe-makers,  mod- 
eling red  clay  bowls  for  chibouques — all  seated  on  their 
heels,  on  little  platforms,  about  two  feet  from  the  ground. 


ENGLISH  CONSULATE.  25 

In  another  part  of  the  bazar,  the  silks  of  Aleppo  and 
Damascus,  the  cottons  of  Manchester,  and  vails  of  Con- 
stantinople and  Switzerland,  were  exposed  for  sale,  the 
shopkeepers,  gravely  smoking,  reclined  at  their  ease  among 
the  gay  wares.  The  barbers'  shops  and  the  coffee-houses 
were  much  larger  and  more  frequented  than  any  of  the 
others.  I  met  no  women  in  the  bazars,  men  and  boys  do 
all  the  marketing  in  the  towns  of  the  Holy  Land. 

We  descended  a  narrow,  ruinous  street  of  stairs,  to  the 
English  Consulate,  which  was  at  that  time  close  to  the  sea- 
side. We  were  kindly  welcomed,  and  led  across  a  court  to 
a  square  and  vaulted  stone  chamber,  with  a  deep  raised 
recess  in  a  rudely-built  casemented  balcony,  looking  on  to 
the  sea.  A  cozily-cushioned  divan  and  a  Turkey  carpet 
made  this  a  most  pleasant  retreat;  and  there,  freed  from 
the  restraints  of  quarantine,  I  soon  felt  quite  at  home  with 
Mrs.  Kayat,  a  native  of  Syria,  who,  with  Eastern  hos- 
pitality, said,  "This  house  is  yours;  order  all  things  as 
you  will." 

Her  young  sister,  Furrah,  spoke  English  pretty  well — 
thanks  to  the  American  mission-school  of  Beirut.  She 
wore  a  white  inuslin  dress,  open  to  the  waist,  and  exposing 
a  thin  net  shirt,  which  did  not  conceal  her  neck  and  bosom, 
and  through  the  semi-transparent  skirt  her  full  Turkish 
trowsers  of  blue  silk  could  be  seen.  Their  mother  was 
dressed  in  a  black  velvet  jacket,  seamed  with  silver,  and  a 
soft,  white  silk  skirt. 

A  number  of  gentlemen  were  in  the  body  of  the  room,  a 
step  below  us.  They,  as  well  as  the  ladies,  were  smoking 
narghiles.  Strong  coffee,  without  milk,  and  in  tiny  cups 
without  handles,  held  in  silver  filigree  stands  exactly  of  the 
size  and  shape  of  common  egg-cups,  were  handed  round. 
After  taking  a  cup,  it  is  customary  to  incline  the  head 
slightly,  raising  the  hand  to  the  forehead,  and  thus  to 
salute  the  host  or  hostess,  who,  in  return,  does  the  same  to 
the  guests. 

An  Arab  breakfast  was  prepared,  and  a  large  party  as- 


26  DOMESTIC  LIFE  IN  PALESTINE. 

Bembled  to  partake  of  it,  including  three  beautiful  little 
girls,  the  Consul's  children,  in  a  pretty  costume,  half  Eu- 
ropean and  half  Oriental.  A  large  dish  of  rice,  boiled  in 
butter,  with  pieces  of  fried  meat  imbedded  in  it,  formed  the 
staple  dish.  Vegetable  marrows,  filled  with  mince-meat  and 
spices  in  place  of  the  seeds  which  had  been  scooped  out; 
some  excellent  fish,  minced  meat  and  rice  rolled  up  in  vine 
leaves,  and  dressed  like  small  sausages;  a  happy  melange 
of  meat,  tomatoes,  pine  seeds,  butter,  and  eggs;  followed 
by  roast  fowl  and  a  good  salad ;  and  a  dessert,  composed  of 
all  the  fruits  that  the  garden  of  Yd/fa  could  furnish,  gave 
me  a  very  favorable  impression  of  the  Summer  resources 
of  a  town  on  the  coast  of  Palestine. 

At  about  midday,  after  this  meal,  nearly  every  one  of 
the  family  sought  rest,  lounging  on  the  divans  or  musketo- 
curtained  beds,  to  smoke  or  to  sleep. 

When  the  sultry  hour  of  noon  had  passed,  Mrs.  Kayat 
invited  me  to  go  with  her  to  see  her  cousin.  Sit  Leah,  and 
her  newly-born  infant  son.  The  ladies  were  soon  ready  for 
the  walk,  for  the  universal  outdoor  dress  is  very  simple. 
A  soft  muslin  vail,  about  a  yard  square,  of  showy  pattern 
and  many  colors,  is  thrown  over  the  head  and  face.  A 
scarf  or  shawl  girdle  is  fastened  round  the  waist,  and  then 
a  fine  calico  sheet,  about  two  yards  or  more  square,  is  put 
on  like  a  cloak,  but  drawn  up  high  over  the  head,  and 
folded  neatly  on  the  forehead,  brought  under  the  chin, 
crossed  over  the  breast,  and,  overlapping  down  the  front, 
hides  the  dress  entirely.  It  is  tucked  into  the  girdle  in 
front,  so  as  to  lift  it  about  three  inches  from  the  ground — 
at  the  back  it  is  allowed  to  fall  quite  smoothly  in  a  straight 
line  to  the  heels.  The  hands  are  kept  inside  and  hold  the 
sheet,  so  that  only  the  colored  mask  of  muslin  over  the  face 
is  visible.  No  individual  could  be  recognized  in  this  dis- 
guise, except  by  some  peculiarity  in  the  manner  of  walking 
or  singularity  of  figure.  Yellow  or  red  shoes,  turned  up  at 
the  toes,  complete  the  costume. 

My  rieaders  may  easily  imitate  this  costume  with  a  sheet 


SALUTATIONS   AND   KISSES.  27 

and  a  colored  silk  handkerchief  for  a  vail,  and  thus  form  a 
good  idea  of  the  general  outdoor  appearance  of  the  women 
in  the  chief  towns  of  Palestine.  It  must  be  remembered, 
however,  that  not  a  vestige  of  crinoline  is  to  be  seen,  and 
full,  soft  trowsers,  with  sometimes  a  skirt  over  them,  a 
jacket,  and  a  shirt,  is  all  that  is  worn  under  the  izzar  or 
sheet.^  The  three  shrouded  ladies  led  me  out,  and  a  kawass, 
not  unnecessarily,  went  before  to  clear  the  way;  for  in  the 
narrow  streets  of  stairs,  with  their  tortuous  turnings  and 
broken  steps,  it  is  well  to  have  notice  of  the  coming  of  a 
frisky  horse,  a  heavily-laden  mule,  or  a  ponderous  camel. 

At  the  arched  entrances  of  some  of  the  large  houses  I 
noticed  fragments  of  granite  columns,  marble  bases,  carved 
capitals  and  cornices,  which  had  probably  been  transported 
from  the  ruins  of  Ascalon.  They  are  used  as  stepping- 
stones  for  mounting  and  dismounting. 

We  entered  a  low  doorway,  and  found  ourselves  in  a 
court-yard,  where  a  group  of  negresses  were  busy  washing. 
They  took  me  by  surprise  by  seizing  my  hands,  kissing 
them,  and  pressing  them  to  their  ebony  foreheads.  I  soon 
learned  to  be  on  my  guard,  and  to  draw  my  hand  away 
firmly  but  courteously,  in  time  to  elude  the  embrace;  for 
I  observed  that  this  is  the  way  the  act  of  submission  is 
expected  to  be  received.  The  refusal  to  accept  the  kiss 
shows  that  you  do  not  wish  the  individual  who  proffers  it 
to  humble  himself  before  you. 

However,  under  certain  circumstances,  the  case  is  dif- 
ferent; for  instance,  if  a  person  asks  forgiveness  of  you, 
or  protection,  or  any  favor,  your  refusal  to  allow  him  to 
kiss  your  hand  or  your  feet  is  a  sign  that  his  request  is  not 
granted. 

Priests  always  exact  this  homage,  and  it  is  very  readily 
paid  to  them;  but  laymen,  who  invariably  allow  it,  gener- 
ally gain  the  sobriquet  of  ^'' KhourV^ — priest. 

*  l8  this  the  kind  of  sheet  referred  to  in  Judges  xiv,  12-18,  where  Samson 
says,  "If  you  find  out  my  riddle  I  will  give  you  thirty  sheets,  and  thirty 
changes  of  garments?" 


28  DOMESTIC  LIFE   IN  PALESTINE. 

We  ascended  a  stone  staircase  to  a  terrace  leading  to 
two  rooms.  We  entered  the  first,  a  pretty  little  square 
whitewashed  room,  draped  with  pink  and  white  muslin. 
In  one  corner  was  a  bed,  made  on  the  floor,  and  a  narrow 
mattress,  about  a  yard  wide,  ran  round  the  other  sides  of 
the  room.  Cushions  covered  with  damask  were  leaning 
against  the  walls,  and  thus  a  comfortable  lounge  was 
formed.  A  Turkey  carpet  concealed  the  stone  floor.  Sev- 
eral ladies  were  seated  d  la  Turque^  on  the  divan,  smoking 
narghiles,  the  long  flexible  tubes  of  which  radiated  from 
the  group  of  large  red  Bohemian  glass  bottles,  which  stood 
bubbling  and  sparkling  in  the  center  of  the  room.  On  the 
low  bed  a  young  mother  was  reclining.  Her  dark  wavy 
hair,  unbraided,  escaped  over  the  embroidered  pillow.  Her 
red  tarbouche  was  decorated  with  folds  of  blue  crape  and 
everlasting  flowers,  her  pale  hands  rested  on  the  crimson 
silk  wadded  quilt,  and  her  striped  Aleppo  yellow  and  white 
silk  dress  contrasted  well  with  the  dark  brilliancy  of  her 
fever-bright  face  and  eyes.  I  took  her  hand  in  mine,  and 
she  said,  "  Welcome,  my  sister ;  my  lips  must  be  silent,  but 
my  heart  is  speaking  to  your  heart."  She  lifted  up  a  tiny 
blue  velvet  lehaff" — quilt — embroidered  with  silver  thread, 
and  revealed  a  baby  boy  of  a  few  days  old.  I  took  him 
in  my  arms.  The  ladies  with  one  accord  said,  "  May  you 
soon  have  the  joy  of  holding  in  your  arms  new  ofispring 
of  your  father's  house  !  May  your  brother  soon  be  mar- 
ried, and  be  blessed  with  many  sons !" 

The  infant  I  held  in  my  arras  was  so  bound  in  swaddling- 
clothes  that  it  was  perfectly  firm  and  solid,  and  looked  like 
a  mummy.  It  had  a  band  under  its  chin  and  across  its 
forehead,  and  a  little  quilted  silk  cap  on  its  head,  with  tiny 
coins  of  gold  sewed  to  it.  The  outer  covering  of  this  little 
figure  was  of  crimson  and  white  striped  silk ;  no  sign  of 
arms  or  legs,  hands  or  feet,  could  be  seen. 

Leah's  sister-in-law,  whose  head  was  much  decorated 
with  jewelry  and  artificial  flowers,  took  the  child  from  me 
and  placed  it  in  a  swing  cradle,  draped  with  pink  and  white 


LEAH   AND   HER  FIRST-BORN   SON.  29^ 

muslin,  and  everlasting  flowers.  She  covered  the  little  crea- 
ture with  such  heavy  quilts,  that  it  seemed  in  danger  of 
suffocation,  then  she  closed  the  curtains  round  it,  till  there 
was  no  aperture  left  at  which  a  musketo  could  enter. 

After  sherbet  and  coffee  had  been  handed  round  by  a 
black  servant,  I  was  led  to  the  next  room,  where  I  found 
my  brother  with  Ilabib  Nasir,  the  husband  of  Leah,  the 
proud  father  of  a  first-born  son.  I  congratulated  him,  and 
his  reply  was  a  wish  that  I  might  soon  have  to  congrat- 
ulate my  brother  on  a  similar  occasion.  This  is  the  cus- 
tomary answer. 

In  each  of  the  rooms  there  were  modern  Greek  pictures 
of  sacred  subjects,  rude  imitations  of  ancient  Byzantine  art, 
proclaiming  that  Habib  was  a  member  of  the  Greek  Church. 

I  returned  to  the  consulate  to  prepare  for  our  journey 
toward  Jerusalem,  Mr.  Graham  and  Mr.  H.,  a  wanderer 
from  the  Crimea — then  the  seat  of  war — who  had  just 
arrived  by  Austrian  steamer,  having  arranged  to  travel 
with  us.  When  our  luggage  was  in  the  care  of  the  mule- 
teers, and  our  horses  were  ready,  we  took  a  slight  collation 
of  goat's-milk  cheese,  fruit,  sweetened  starch,  and  native 
wines,  in  Mrs.  Kayat's  room,  seated  on  the  cushioned  floor, 
round  a  low  table  inlaid  with  mother  of  pearl. 

After  taking  leave  of  our  kind  host  and  his  family,  we 
mounted  at  their  door,  their  blessings  and  good  wishes 
ringing  in  our  ears,  "Go  in  peace,  and  return  to  us  in 
safety ;  return  speedily ;  peace  be  with  you."  The  children 
and  servants  echoed  the  words  till  we  were  out  of  sight. 
An  old  man,  in  a  coat  of  many  colors,  shaped  like  a  sack, 
and  with  a  curious  mosaic-looking  vandyked  pattern  on  the 
back  of  it,  led  my  horse  up  the  steep  streets  of  stairs, 
through  the  crowded  bazars,  and  out  of  the  town  gate, 
which  we  had  entered  in  the  morning.  It  is  in  the  middle 
of  the  east  wall,  and  is  the  only  land  gate.  I  must  here 
remind  my  younger  readers  that  wheeled  carriages  are  not 
used  in  Palestine.  I  never  saw  even  such  a  thing  as  a 
wheelbarrow  there ;  in  fact,  the  roads  are  so  bad  that  such 


30  DOMESTIC   LIFE  IN   PALESTINE. 

conveyances  would  be  useless;  so  people  always  travel  on 
camels,  or  mules,  or  donkeys,  or  on  horses,  as  we  did.  It 
was  now  about  six  o'clock,  and  just  outside  the  gate  tbe 
inhabitants  of  Yafa  were  enjoying  their  pipes  in  the  shade 
of  the  city,  for  the  sun  was  going  down  toward  the  sea. 
Others  were  riding  and  galloping  along  the  broad  sandy 
road,  which  led  us  to  a  pleasant  bridle  path  between 
hedges  of  a  gigantic  kind  of  cactus — the  opuntia — the 
large,  fleshy,  thick-jointed  stems  of  which  were  fringed 
with  yellow  flowers,  promising  a  rich  harvest  of  prickly 
pears.  These  formidable  hedgerows  rising  from  two  to 
eight,  and  sometimes  even  ten  or  twelve  feet  in  hight,  were 
wreathed  with  graceful  creepers,  the  briony,  the  clematis, 
and  the  wild  vine  twining  their  tendrils  together.  Our 
Crimean  friend  suggested  that  such  a  cactus  hedge  would 
prove  an  impenetrable  barrier  to  advancing  cavalry.  This 
pleasant  sandy  path  led  us  for  three  or  four  miles  between 
beautiful  fruit  gardens,  where  the  palm-tree,  laden  with 
golden  fruit,  towered  high  above  all  other  trees.  Oranges, 
lemons,  pistachios,  apricots,  almonds,  and  mulberries  were 
ripening.  The  pomegranate-tree  showed  its  thick  clusters 
of  scarlet  flowers,  and  acacias,  locust-trees,  tamarisks,  sil- 
very olives,  and  broad-leaved  fig-trees  flourished.  It  was 
about  half-past  six  when  we  reached  the  open  country 
beyond  the  extensive  and  well-cultivated  gardens  of  Yafa. 
The  sun  was  going  down  behind  us,  over  the  sea.  The 
far-away  hills  toward  which  we  were  journeying,  east  by 
Bouth,  were  crowned  with  glowing  red,  while  purple  night 
shadows  were  rising  rapidly.  We  passed  through  fields  of 
mallows  and  gardens  of  cucumbers,  with  tents  or  little 
stone  lodges  for  the  gardeners  scattered  here  and  there. 

The  sun  went  down.  Vultures  and  kites  were  sweeping 
through  the  air.  As  the  darkness  increased,  our  little 
party,  consisting  of  six  muleteers,  our  servants,  and  our- 
selves, assembled  together  to  keep  in  close  company  for  the 
rest  of  the  way. 

We  could  distinguish  parties  of  field-laborers  and  oxen 


"ai-wa!"  81 

at  rest  by  the  road-side,  and  sometimes  we  came  to  a  rude 
thrashing-floor,  where,  by  the  light  of  a  bonfire  of  weeds 
and  thorns,  we  saw  Bembrandt-like  groups  of  rough-look- 
ing, half-clad  peasants,  some  of  them  sleeping,  and  others 
lighting  their  long  pipes  with  the  fragrant  embers.  Our 
muleteers  were  singing  monotonous  and  plaintive  songs, 
only  interrupted  now  and  then  when  the  jogging  mules 
disarranged  their  burdens  by  jolting  against  each  other, 
and  the  drivers  would  cry  out,  '■^  Ai-wa!  Ai-waT  an  inter- 
jection of  very  flexible  signification,  which  answers  nearly 
to  our  "Now  then!"  when  used  deprecatingly,  or  to  "All 
right,"  or  "  Go  on,"  under  more  favorable  circumstances.* 

We  rode  on  in  the  darkness  over  an  undulating  plain, 
occasionally  passing  a  well,  a  tomb,  a  little  sleeping  village, 
or  a  grove  of  ancient  olive-trees,  and  reached  Ramleh  at 
half-past  nine. 

We  had  been  invited  to  pass  the  night  at  the  house  of 
one  of  the  principal  Christian  Arabs  of  the  town,  and  soon 
met  his  servants  and  lantern-bearers,  who  had  been  watch- 
ing for  us.  They  led  the  way  up  a  flight  of  stone  steps  to 
a  small  square  court,  round  which  lofty  stone  chambers 
were  built. 

Our  host  then  conducted  us  to  the  guest-chamber,  "a 
large  upper  room,  furnished"  with  divans  and  cushioned 
window-seats. 

His  wife — a  handsome  and  stately-looking  woman,  in 
rich  Oriental  costume — came  to  salute  and  welcome  us. 
She  took  me  to  a  long  vaulted  stone  chamber,  where  two 
mattresses  were  spread  on  the  floor;  one  was  for  me,  and 
the  other  for  two  negresses  who  were  appointed  to  attend 
me.  Supper  was  spread  for  our  party  in  an  arched  recess 
of  the  court,  by  two  Abyssinian  men-servants,  who  waited 
on  us  with  intelligence  and  alacrity. 

Presently,  two  awkward  but  good-natured-looking,  black, 
woolly-headed,  tall,  white-robed,  shoeless  girls,  led  me  to 

*"Aiwa"  is  probably  an  abbreviation  of  "Ai  Wallah,"  a  very  significant 
oath.— E.  T.  R. 


32  DOMESTIC  LIFE   IN  PALESTINE. 

my  room.  They  poured  hot  and  cold  water  alternately 
over  my  feet  and  hands,  and  did  all  they  could  to  make  me 
comfortable.  After  a  few  hours  rest,  I  rose  by  the  light  of 
the  moon,  which  streamed  in  at  the  wide,  unglazed,  arched 
window. 

The  hinges,  locks,  and  door-handles  throughout  the  house 
were  of  beautiful  design,  somewhat  resembling  Italian  work 
of  the  sixteenth  century. 

By  the  time  the  muleteers  were  roused,  and  our  horses 
were  in  readiness  for  the  journey,  the  sun  had  risen,  and 
we  hastened  away.  The  market-places  were  already  busy 
with  buyers  and  sellers.  The  gardens  of  Ramleh  are 
extensive  and  fertile;  the  date-palm,  especially,  flourishes 
there.     The  soil  is  sandy.* 

Just  outside  the  town,  under  a  clump  of  tamarisk- trees, 
sat  a  group  of  dirty-looking  Arabs,  in  picturesque  rags. 
As  we  passed,  they  rose  from  their  stony  seats,  and  ad- 
vanced toward  us,  holding  out  little  tin  cups  for  alms.  I 
then  perceived  that  the  poor  creatures  were  lepers!  Their 
faces  were  so  disfigured  that  they  scarcely  looked  human; 
the  eyelids  and  lips  of  some  were  quite  destroyed,  while 
the  faces  of  others  were  swollen  into  frightful  masses.  It 
was  the  saddest  sight  I  ever  saw. 

The  families  afidicted  with  this  terrible  and  hereditary 
disease  intermarry,  and  sometimes  the  immediate  offspring 
are  free  from  any  appearance  of  it,  but  it  is  sure  to  revive 
in  the  succeeding  generation ;  some  of  them  appear  quite 
healthy  till  they  are  nineteen  or  twenty,  but  they  feel  them- 
selves to  be  a  doomed  race,  and  live  quite  apart  from  the 
rest  of  the  world,  subsisting  almost  entirely  on  charity — for 
often  their  fingers  rot  off  and  render  their  hands  useless.f 

In  return  for  the  few  piasters  we  gave  them,  they  cried, 
in  hoarse  whispers,  "  May  it  return  to  you  tenfold!"  "  Peace 

*  "Ramleh"  is  the  Arabic  word  for  sandy;  Arab  names  of  places  are  very 
frequently  descriptive. 

t  They  live  in  special  quarters  in  four  towns  in  Syria ;  namely,  Jerusalem, 
Damascus,  Bamleh,  and  Nablus,  whither  those  born  casually  elsewhere  are  sent 
as  soon  as  the  disease  has  thoroughly  shown  itself.     They  are  better  off  than 


HILL   COUNTRY    OF    JUDEA.  33 

be  with  you !"  We  passed  througli  fertile  fields  and  or- 
chards, overtaking  peasants  leading  oxen  or  laden  camels, 
or  shepherd  boys  guiding  flocks  of  goats  to  pasture  land. 
Though  the  sun  was  low,  and  sent  our  shadows  in  long 
lines  behind  us,  yet  the  rays  were  fierce  with  light  and 
heat.  The  fields  of  sesame — called  simsim  in  Arabic — 
looked  very  pretty.  It  is  a  tall,  bright-green  plant,  with 
upright  stems,  garnished  with  blossoms,  somewhat  like  the 
fox -glove,  white,  shaded  with  pink.  The  seeds  yield  a  very 
fine  oil,  almost  equal  to  olive.  Blue  chicory,  yellow  flax, 
the  hardy  goat's  beard  and  convolvulus,  of  many  tints, 
large  and  small,  bordered  the  road.  We  soon  reached 
an  uncultivated  part  of  the  undulating  plain,  where  the 
ground  was  burned  up  and  cracked  into  deep,  wide  fissures, 
and  where  large  blocks  of  stone,  like  cromlechs,  cast  their 
shadows.  I  watched  numbers  of  green  lizards  and  strange 
reptiles,  running  rapidly  in  and  out  of  the  cracks,  and  under 
and  over  the  rocks,  pausing  sometimes,  opening  their  eyes 
of  fire  to  the  sun,  and  nodding  their  large  heads  quaintly. 
Wild  ducks  were  flapping  their  wings  above  our  heads. 
Camels  every  now  and  then  passed  in  strings  of  three  or 
four  together,  their  drivers  bending  and  touching  their  fore- 
heads gracefully  as  we  passed.  Some  of  the  peasants  wore 
scarcely  any  clothing.  Flocks  of  goats  and  cattle  were 
browsing  on  the  scanty  burned-up  pasture,  and  the  shepherd 
boys  were  piping  on  rude  instruments  made  of  cane  or  reed. 
At  half-past  eight  o'clock  we  were  in  the  shelter  of  the 
hills,  and  paused  for  a  few  moments  at  the  entrance  of  a 
woody  and  rocky  valley,  called  Wady-'Aly.  Some  Arabs 
brought  us  a  supply  of  good  water,  in  leather  bottles-.  Mr. 
Finn,  Her  Britannic  Majesty's  Consul  at  Jerusalem,  had  sent 
his  kawass  there  to  meet  and  welcome  us,  and  to  lead  the 
way,  for  in  the  hill  country  a  skillful  pilot  is  required.    Wild 

beggars  in  general,  for  they  have  foundations,  "  Wakf,"  and  it  is  deemed  a  great 
act  of  charity  by  all  classes  of  Orientals  to  do  any  kindness  to  these  afflicted 
people.  Those  of  Damascus,  being  chiefly  Christians,  were  all  killed,  or,  from 
their  helpless  condition,  perished  in  the  flames  during  the  massacre  and  confla- 
gration in  the  Summer  of  I860.— E,  T.  B. 


34  DOMESTIC  LIFE   IN    PALESTINE. 

fig-trees,  dwarf  oaks,  and  thorns,  grew  among  the  rocks, 
and  thousands  of  larks,  disturbed  by  our  approach,  rose 
high  into  the  air,  but  they  did  not  sing  the  sweet  song  of 
the  larks  of  our  cornfields. 

We  passed  over  steep  hills,  wild  and  rocky,  with  treach- 
erous stones  slipping  from  under  the  feet  of  the  often- 
stumbling  horses.  Sometimes  the  passes  were  so  narrow 
that  we  had  to  ride  singly,  watching  the  leader  carefully  in 
his  ins  and  outs  among  bushes  and  rocks.  On  the  summits 
of  many  of  the  rounded  hills  there  are  ruins  and  large  hewn 
stones,  which  have  given  rise  to  much  discussion  among 
Biblical  topographists.  We  saw  traces  of  terraces,  and  of 
former  careful  cultivation  every-where,  but  the  Winter  tor- 
rents have  been  allowed  to  sweep  away  the  protecting  stones, 
and  the  rich,  red  loam  is  washed  down,  so  that  in  many 
places  large  masses  of  bare  limestone  are  exposed ;  but 
wherever  the  earth  rests,  however  scantily,  there  is  vegeta- 
tion. Wild  fruit-trees,  shrubs,  and  aromatic  herbs,  thorns 
and  thistles,  prove  the  natural  fertility  of  the  soil.  Even 
out  of  the  small  handfuls  of  earth  washed  into  the  holes 
and  crevices  of  the  rocks,  tiny  flowers  spring,  especially 
the  wild  pink  and  crane's-bill.  We  took  zigzag  paths  up 
the  faces  of  hills  which  looked  almost  perpendicular. 
Sometimes  we  gained  a  hight  commanding  views  of  the 
Great  Sea  and  the  plain  of  Sharon  on  one  side,  and  the  hills 
which  concealed  the  city  of  Jerusalem  on  the  other ;  then 
again  we  were  in  a  narrow  valley,  or  closed  in  by  a  seem- 
ingly impassable  amphitheater  of  hills.  Here  and  there  our 
road  was  along  ledges,  so  narrow — with  a  rocky  ravine 
below,  and  a  hill  rising  abruptly  like  a  wall  above — that  we 
took  the  precaution  of  sending  our  leader  to  the  end  of  the 
pass,  to  see  that  the  way  was  clear,  and  to  keep  it  so  till 
we  could  traverse  it.  Eagles  and  vultures  swept  through 
the  air.  The  sky  was  intensely  blue,  and  the  sun  very 
powerful.  Sparrows  and  finches  were  twittering  among  the 
trees. 

At  about  ten  o'clock  we  dismounted  by  a  little  tell,  or 


8Si 

mound,  in  the  center  of  a  triangular  space,  wliere  three 
valleys  meet.  Here  there  is  a  well  of  sweet  and  excellent 
water,  and  round  it  olives,  figs,  locust-trees,  and  evergreen 
oaks  grow.  A  party  of  Bedouins  were  watering  their  camels 
at  the  stone  trough  connected  with  the  well.  Under  the 
pleasant  tree-shadows  we  rested,  and  on  a  bank  of  wild 
thyme  and  sweet  marjoram  we  spread  our  simple  provi- 
sions— "a  basket  of  Summer  fruit,"  a  few  thin  cakes  of 
flour,  and  some  new  wine.  At  the  entrance  to  an  extensive 
cavern,  in  the  base  of  a  hill  opposite  to  us,  a  group  of 
peasants  were  sleeping.  The  cave,  like  many  smaller  ones 
which  we  had  seen,  had  been  fashioned  originally  by  na- 
ture, but  man  had  at  some  period  or  other  smoothed  the 
inner  wall,  and  made  a  dwelling  there. 

When  we  remounted,  we  passed  through  a  partially-cul- 
tivated district.  Groves  of  olive-trees  bordered  the  dry  bed 
of  a  Winter  torrent,  and  patches  of  vines,  and  vegetables, 
and  stubble-fields  appeared  on  the  terraces,  till  we  came  to 
higher  and  steeper  hills  in  the  neighborhood  of  Ajalon, 
covered  with  sage  and  wild  lavender.  The  heat  was  sensi- 
bly increasing  till  about  noon,  when  a  pleasant  breeze  arose. 
This  is  generally  the  case  in  the  hill  country  in  the  Summer 
time,  the  breeze  rises  at  about  twelve,  lasts  for  an  hour  or 
two,  and  cools  the  air.  We  came  into  a  cultivated  region 
again,  announcing  a  village  near,  and  soon  saw  the  white 
walls  of  the  square  castle-like  houses  of  Abu  Ghosh,  on  a 
hill-side,  and  the  fine  ruins  of  an  ancient  Christian  church 
to  which  a  Franciscan  convent  was  formerly  attached.  We 
dismounted  at  its  large  arched  entrance ;  the  groined  roof 
and  clear-story,  supported  by  tall  massive  columns,  are  in 
good  preservation.  This  building  is  now  used  as  a  stable 
and  khan,  but  has  often  served  the  purpose  of  a  fortress. 
It  is  very  long  since  it  echoed  the  litanies  of  the  Fran- 
ciscans, for  they  were  expelled  about  the  middle  of  the 
thirteenth  century,  when  the  sultan  of  Egypt  conquered 
Jerusalem. 

A  cousin  of  the  robber  chief,  the  celebrated  Abu  Gh6sh, 


86  DOMESTIC  LIFE   IN  PALESTINE. 

is  now  sheikh  of  the  village,  and  it  is  his  policy  to  he  very 
polite  to  Frank  travelers. 

We  rested  for  a  little  while  on  the  step  of  the  church  door. 
A  group  of  women  were  drawing  water  from  a  well.  We 
watched  them  as  they  walked  one  after  the  other  toward 
the  village,  with  the  replenished  jars  poised  perfectly  on 
their  heads.  Herds  of  cattle  and  flocks  of  goats  on  the 
surrounding  hills,  richly-cultivated  orchards  and  vineyards, 
and  a  few  palm-trees,  proclaimed  this  little  village  rich  and 
flourishing.  It  is  now  called  Kuryet  el'-Enab,  "  village  of 
grapes,"  the  ancient  Kirjath-Jearim  probably. 

A  few  hills  more  or  less  difficult  were  traversed.  One, 
which  seemed  only  fit  for  goats  and  conies  to  ramble  over, 
we  descended  on  foot,  sliding  over  slabs  of  stone  as  smooth 
as  polished  marble,  and  leaping  from  rock  to  rock,  over 
thorns  and  briers,  till  I  was  tired,  and  glad  to  mount  again. 
Then  we  came  to  a  pleasant  terraced  road,  made  on  the 
slope  of  a  hill,  looking  down  into  a  fertile  valley,  where  an 
Arab  village  has  risen  on  the  site  of  an  ancient  Roman 
colony,  the  record  of  which  is  preserved  in  the  modern 
name  Kolonieh.  Traces  of  an  amphitheater  and  fortifica- 
tions were  pointed  out  to  me.  We  crossed  to  the  opposite 
side  of  the  valley,  and  pursued  our  way  along  a  rocky  ledge, 
till  we  came  to  a  spring  of  living  water,  gushing  from  a 
rock  above  into  a  trough,  which  overflowed  constantly.  The 
water  finds  its  way  through  ducts  into  the  valley  below. 
Maiden-hair,  delicate  creepers,  and  ferns,  grew  around,  and 
thousands  of  birds  congregated  there — it  is  called  the 
Fountain  of  birds.  We,  as  well  as  our  horses,  enjoyed  the 
deliciously  cool  water.  We  rode  on  again,  and  soon  crossed 
an  ancient  Roman  bridge,  built  over  a  water-course.  There 
are  the  remains  of  a  Jewish  city  by  this  stream,  and  local 
tradition  says  that  David  took  from  its  bed  the  pebble 
which  gave  the  death-blow  to  Goliath.  Large  stones,  care- 
fully hewn  and  beveled,  are  scattered  in  heaps,  and  half 
concealed  by  hawthorn  bushes,  wild  rose-trees,  fruit-laden 
blackberry    brambles,    and    tall    thistles.      Others    appear 


JOPPA   TO  JERUSALEM.  37 

among  rough  unhewn  stones,  in  the  low  walls  which  mark 
the  boundaries  of  the  vineyards  and  orchards  near  at  hand. 
No  doubt  these  large  stones  were  once  portions  of  stately 
palaces  and  strongholds,  erected  by  skillful  Hebrew  builders 
long  ago.  Amos  said,  "  Ye  have  built  houses  of  hewn 
stone,  but  ye  shall  not  dwell  in  them ;  ye  have  planted 
pleasant  vineyards,  but  ye  shall  not  drink  wine  in  them." 

The  Arabs  have  a  proverb  in  common  use,  which  says, 
"  The  Jews  built ;  the  Greeks  planted ;  and  the  Turks 
destroy."  It  is  true  that  in  nearly  every  town  or  village 
or  deserted  ruin  in  Judea,  some  traces  of  the  massive  archi- 
tecture of  the  Jews — whose  forefathers  had  served  their 
toilsome  apprenticeship  in  Egypt,  among  pyramids  and 
temples — are  discovered,  sometimes  serving  as  the  founda- 
tion of  Roman  citadels  and  theaters,  which  in  their  turn 
have  fallen  to  give  place  to  the  Moorish  arch  or  minaret, 
and  the  mud-built  hovel  of  the  peasant;  while  all  the 
ancient  olive-trees,  which  stand  in  regular  and  equidistant 
rows,  forming  avenues  in  all  directions,  are  said  to  have 
been  planted  by  the  Greeks,  and  present  a  striking  con- 
trast to  the  wild  wood-like  picturesqueness  of  younger  olive 
plantations  now  fruitful  and  flourishing,  as  well  as  to  the 
still  more  ancient  trees  now  falling  to  decay. 

Presently  Mr.  Graham  said,  "  Now,  Miss  Rogers,  prepare 
yourself  for  a  treat.  When  we  reach  the  summit  of  this 
hill,  our  eyes  shall  behold  the  city  of  the  Great  King."  I 
quickened  my  pace,  forgot  my  fatigue,  and  was  soon  on  the 
hill- top,  pausing  to  look  around  me,  requiring  no  guide  to 
point  out  the  long,  low  line  of  battlemented  wall,  with  a 
few  domes  and  minarets  rising  above  it,  crowning  the  table- 
land of  a  hill  which  stood  in  the  midst  of  hills,  and  I  knew 
that  I  was  looking  on  Jerusalem,  "  builded  as  a  city,"  and 
"  the  mountains  round  about  her."  The  afternoon  sun  was 
shining  from  behind  us,  brightening  the  white  walls  of  the 
city,  the  gray-green  tints  of  Olivet,  which  rises  just  beyond, 
and  the  long  chain  of  the  far-away  mountains  of  Moab,  seen 
here  and  there  through  openings  in  the  Judaean  hills.     The 


38  DOMESTIC  LIFE  IN  PALESTINE. 

Mount  of  Olives,  "which  is  before  Jerusalem  on  the  east," 
says  Zechariah,  is  separated  by  slight  depressions  into  three 
distinct  parts.  On  the  central  and  highest  point  a  white- 
walled  Moslem  village  stands,  with  olive  and  mulberry 
trees  clustering  round  it.  Near  the  summit  of  the  north- 
ern hill,  a  little  isolated  square  stone  tower  is  conspicuous, 
and  when  Mr.  G.  pointed  it  out,  he  invited  me  to  pay  him 
a  visit  there,  for  it  was  his  Summer  retreat,  and  was  com- 
monly called  "  Graham  Castle,"  by  Europeans  in  Jerusalem. 

We  descended  into  a  long,  narrow,  stony  valley;  but  the 
view  from  the  hill-top  we  were  leaving  was  already  pho- 
tographed on  my  brain,  and  I  have  never  lost  the  impres- 
sion. Though  I  have  seen  Jerusalem  under  more  beautiful 
aspects,  and  from  more  favorable  points  of  view,  the  first 
sight  had  its  peculiar  charm. 

We  left  the  Yafa  road,  and  made  our  way  toward  the 
Talibiweh,  where  Mr.  Finn,  the  English  Consul,  encamps 
in  Summer  time.  It  is  about  a  mile  west  of  the  city.  We 
rapidly  approached  a  low,  rough  stone  wall,  inclosing  a 
large  tract  of  partially-cultivated  land,  on  a  gradually-slop- 
ing hill,  looking  toward  Jerusalem.  On  the  highest  part 
of  the  ground  a  small  square  stone  building  stood,  with 
seven  or  eight  tents  pitched  near  to  it,  among  rocks,  young 
trees,  and  shrubs.  This  I  found  was  the  consular  encamp- 
ment, and  gladly  I  dismounted  there,  at  four  o'clock,  P.  M., 
welcomed  by  the  Consul  and  his  family. 

The  stone  house  consists  simply  of  one  lofty  double- 
vaulted  chamber,  which  serves  for  dining  and  general  sit- 
ting-room, with  veranda-sheltered  seats  outside  it,  looking 
toward  the  east.  An  arched  recess — or  lewan^  as  it  is 
called  in  Arabic  and  Turkish — looks  toward  the  west,  and 
consequently  is  in  shade  in  the  morning.  Kitchens  and 
offices  occupy  the  third  and  fourth  sides.  It  was  built  by 
Jewish  laborers,  of  a  red  and  yellowish  stone,  from  a  quarry 
on  the  estate,  and  is  not  plastered  either  inside  or  out. 

Mrs.  Finn  led  me  across  a  rough  path,  among  little 
patches  of  newly-cultivated  red  earth,  where  melons,  cu- 


JERUSALEM.  39 

cumbers,  and  vegetable  marrows,  were  flourishing.  Young 
castor-oil  trees,  palms,  and  oleanders,  were  springing  up 
between  large  masses  of  rock.  In  their  shelter  the  sweet 
basil,  pinks,  roses,  as  well  as  many  English  seedlings,  were 
being  coaxed  into  existence,  making  a  cheerful  though 
wild-looking  garden  round  the  pretty  Egyptian  tent  pre- 
pared for  me,  the  ropes  of  which  were  attached  to  some 
vigorous  olive-trees,  of  two  or  three  years'  growth.  I 
found  my  luggage  already  there,  for  the  muleteers  had 
arrived  an  hour  or  two  before  us.  The  blue  tent  lining 
appliqued  with  black  and  scarlet  borders,  in  patterns  of 
good  design,  on  the  white  canvas,  the  crimson  cloth  carpet, 
and  simple  tent  furniture,  looked  bright  and  cheerful ;  while 
the  views  of  the  Bethlehem  plain.  Mount  Zion,  and  Jeru- 
salem, from  the  tent  door,  delighted  me. 

We  passed  the  evening  pleasantly  with  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Finn,  talking  over  our  journey,  and  planning  future  ones. 
Their  children  were  eager  to  show  me  their  treasures,  and 
to  take  me  to  all  the  memorable  spots  in  the  neighborhood 
they  knew  so  well,  for  they  were  born  in,  and  had  scarcely 
ever  been  out  of  sight  of  Jerusalem.  "  I  will  take  you  to 
Olivet,  and  to  the  top  of  Mount  Scopus,  and  then  you  can 
see  the  River  Jordan  and  the  Dead  Sea,"  said  Skander, 
the  eldest  boy;  and  little  Constance  added,  "Mamma,  may 
I  take  Miss  Rogers  to  see  Judas's  tree,  and  the  Garden  of 
Gethsemane,  and  may  we  go  to  Bethlehem  and  to  Solomon's 
Pools?" 

These  children,  who  had  grown  up  amid  such  scenes, 
and  who  had  learned  to  speak  Arabic  simultaneously  with 
English,  interested  me  exceedingly,  evincing  in  all  they 
said  and  did  the  effect  of  the  influences  around  them.  I 
showed  to  Constance  an  engraving  of  an  English  sea- 
side view,  and  she  immediately  said,  pointing  to  a  castle, 
"There's  the  tower  of  David;"  and  again,  pointing  to  the 
bathing  machines,  exclaimed,  "These  are  the  tombs  of  the 
kings,  and  there  is  the  Dead  Sea,"  the  only  sea  which  she 
had  ever  seen.     After  tea,  the  little  ones  were  led  by  their 


40  DOMESTIC  LIFE  IN  PALESTINE. 

pleasant-looking  Armenian  nurse,  Um  Issa,  to  tlie  nursery 
tent,  and  Skander,  wishing  me  good-night,  added,  "Do  not 
be  afraid  if  you  hear  the  jackals  crying  and  barking,  they 
will  not  come  to  our  tents;  but  we  hear  them  every  night, 
and  they  wake  the  dogs,  and  the  horses,  and  the  donkey, 
and  then  sometimes  they  all  make  a  noise  together."  At 
an  early  hour  Helwe,  a  woman  of  Bethlehem,  brought  in 
the  lanterns  which  were  to  light  us  to  our  several  tents. 
Mrs.  F.  led  me  to  mine,  and  showed  me  how  to  secure  it; 
while  her  niece  warned  me  to  look  well  at  my  clothes,  and 
to  shake  them  before  putting  them  on  in  the  morning,  to 
get  rid  of  ants  or  spiders,  or  perhaps  a  scorpion,  which 
might  creep  into  them  at  night.  I  watched  the  lanterns 
as  they  dispersed  over  the  grounds  to  the  different  tents, 
and  soon  fell  asleep  amid  the  scenes  and  sounds  that  were 
so  strange  to  me.  It  was  difficult  to  realize  the  fact  that 
I  had  left  London  only  three  weeks  before. 


JERUSALEM.  41 


CHAPTER  II. 

JERUSALEM. 

In  the  early  morning,  childish  voices  called  me  to  come 
to  breakfast  in  the  lewan,  on  the  shady  side  of  the  house. 
The  sun  was  shining  brightly  over  the  city  and  the  hills, 
but  the  western  walls  and  slopes  were  still  in  shade. 

After  breakfast,  we  went  to  the  sitting-room,  which  was 
almost  as  simply  furnished  as  a  hermitage,  with  rustic 
tables,  camp  stools,  matting,  and  a  few  rough  shelves  for 
books  and  toys. 

I  sat  on  the  doorstep,  and  looked  over  a  rocky,  thorny 
slope  to  a  ridge  which  I  was  told  marked  the  course  of 
the  valley  of  Hinnom,  beyond  which  rose  the  western  wall 
of  Jerusalem;  the  turreted  and  massive-looking  tower  of 
David,  and  the  Yafa  gate,  breaking  its  monotony. 

The  Anglican  church  and  consulate,  with  its  pointed 
fagade  and  strikingly  modern  appearance,  the  large  white- 
domed  Armenian  convent,  a  minaret,  a  few  palm-trees, 
pines,  and  cypresses,  was  all  I  could  see  of  the  Holy 
City,  for  it  slopes  eastward. 

On  my  right  hand  was  the  plain  of  Rephaim.  It  spreads 
southward  toward  a  rounded  hill,  which  is  crowned  by  the 
convent  of  Mar  Elias.  Long  lines  of  camels,  troops  of 
horsemen,  flocks  of  goats,  vegetable-laden  asses,  and  groups 
of  peasant  women,  with  baskets  or  bundles  on  their  heads, 
were  coming  and  going  all  day,  along  the  broad  road 
which  crosses  this  plain,  and  vultures  and  eagles  swept 
through  the  air. 

In  the  afternoon  I  rode  out  with  my  brother.  We  went 
down  into  the  stony  valley  of  the  Convent  of  the  Cross, 
passing  the  whitc-walled  newly -restored  Greek  convent,  and 

4 


42  DOMESTIC  LIFE  IN   PALESTINE. 

made  our  way,  among  rocks  and  thorns,  to  the  valley  of 
Hinnom,  well  planted  with  olives,  figs,  and  pomegranates. 
We  ascended  the  hill  leading  to  the  Yafa  gate,  meeting 
many  people  on  foot  and  on  horseback,  who  were  just 
starting  for  a  stroll  before  sunset.  We  passed  under  the 
deep,  pointed  archway,  through  the  vaulted  chamber  in 
the  great  gate,  along  by  the  wall  and  deep  moat  of  the 
citadel  or  tower  of  David,  and  then  turned  down  a  narrow 
passage,  leading  to  the  consulate,  which  adjoined  the  En- 
glish church.  Here  we  dismounted,  and  I  felt  a  strange 
joy  when,  for  the  first  time,  my  feet  stood  within  thy 
gates,  0  Jerusalem! 

Mr.  Bartlett  has  made  the  streets  of  the  Holy  City  ho 
familiar  in  his  "Walks  about  Jerusalem,"  and  "Jerusalem 
Revisited,"  and  Mr.  Murray's  invaluable  Hand-Book  gives 
its  topography  and  statistics  so  perfectly,  that  I  will  refer 
my  readers  to  those  sources,  and  only  give  a  slight  account 
of  the  city  as  I  saw  it. 

My  brother  led  me  back  to  the  open  space  in  the  front 
of  the  citadel,  where  a  daily  market  is  held  in  the  early 
morning.  We  passed  a  large  open  cafe,  where  soldiers  and 
groups  of  Moslems  were  smoking.  The  Latin  convent,  a 
large,  well-built  stone  edifice,  is  opposite  the  citadel;  its 
long,  flat  roof  serves  for  a  terrace,  where  a  number  of 
monks  and  boys,  in  black  robes,  were  walking  in  monot- 
onous procession.  The  Anglican  bishop's  town-house  over- 
looks the  market-place,  out  of  which  we  turned  into  a 
bustling  street,  paved  with  gradually-descending  shallow 
steps,  so  smooth  and  worn,  and  so  scattered  with  melon- 
parings  and  other  vegetable  refuse,  that  it  was  difficult  to 
find  a  sure  footing.  On  each  side  there  were  Arab  shops, 
the  owners  of  which  were  folding  up  their  gay  wares,  or 
stowing  away  baskets  of  dried  fruit  or  trays  of  pipes  pre- 
paratory to  closing  for  the  night,  for  it  was  past  the 
eleventh  hour.  We  turned  up  Christian-street,  the  first 
turning  on  the  left,  where,  besides  the  truly  Oriental 
barbers'  shops,  the  coffee-houses,  pipe-makers,  and  bakers, 


JERUSALEM.  43 

there  are  several  European  establishments,  kept  by  Maltese, 
and  Italians,  and  Germans,  pretty  well  supplied  from  Lon- 
don and  Paris  with  ornamental  as  well  as  useful  and  nec- 
essary articles  of  dress;  though,  as  may  be  anticipated,  a 
large  per  centage  is  charged.  We  met  crowds  of  Moslems, 
Spanish  and  German  Jews,  Bedouins,  Greeks,  and  monks 
of  many  orders.  I  heard  my  brother  greeted  and  welcomed 
by  name,  in  various  languages,  by  passers  by,  for  he  was 
well  known  in  the  city,  where  he  had  passed  several  years 
as  canceliere  in  the  British  Consulate.  We  made  our  way 
to  the  Church  of  the  Holy  Sepulcher,  and  paused  in  the 
square  court-yard  in  front  of  it,  to  look  at  its  beautiful 
fagade.  Two  arched  doorways,  side  by  side,  with  deep 
iatricate  moldings  enriched  with  ball  flowers,  are  divided 
by  a  magnificent  cluster  of  five  marble  columns.  The 
center  and  outside  columns  are  green  and  the  others  white. 
The  capitals  are  foliated,  and  richly  carved.  There  are 
friezes  across  the  doorways  from  the  spring  of  the  arches. 
The  one  to  the  right,  over  the  door  which  is  bricked  up, 
is  of  ornamental  scroll-work,  with  boys  playfully  introduced 
in  arabesque  style.  The  frieze  over  the  left  door,  which 
is  the  only  entrance  to  the  church,  is  a  well-carved  alto- 
relievo  picture  of  Christ's  Entrance  into  the  City,  and  the 
Last  Supper,  not  exactly  agreeing  in  character  with  the 
other  frieze.  We  then  went  to  the  ruins  of  the  Church 
of  the  Knights  of  St.  John,  near  at  hand.  We  passed 
under  a  wide  low  Norman  arch,  rich  with  zigzag  and  dog- 
tooth moldings,  marble  columns,  and  carved  capitals.  We 
climbed  over  a  dust-heap,  where  vegetables  and  dead  bodies 
of  dogs  and  cats  were  rotting,  where  flies  and  fleas  were 
regaling  themselves,  and  half-naked,  wretched-looking  chil- 
dren were  playing  and  munching  melon  parings.  We 
crossed  a  court-yard,  full  of  abominations,  assailed  by 
barking  and  snarling  dogs,  but  tempted  on  by  the  strange 
beauty  of  this  neglected  relic  of  ancient  chivalry.  We 
found  three  high  walls  of  the  outer  edifice  standing,  and 
within   them    there   were   divisions   which   indicated    three 


44  DOMESTIC  LIFE  IN  PALESTINE. 

distinct  compartments;  one  is  used  as  a  tannery,  and  in 
the  others  we  saw  skeletons  of  asses  and  horses;  for,  when 
animals  die  in  the  neighborhood,  their  carcasses  are  dragged 
into  this  desecrated  place  to  be  devoured  by  dogs  or  vul- 
tures. We  climbed  over  burning  lime  and  rubbish  to  a 
^ther  treacherous  stone  stairway,  which  led  us  to  a  gallery 
above,  corresponding  with  the  cloisters  below.  Here  there 
are  two  large  windows  with  stone  tracery,  muUions,  and 
moldings  of  early  English  character,  in  pretty  good  pres- 
ervation. 

Notwithstanding  the  offensive  surroundings,  I  paid  sev- 
eral visits  to  these  interesting  ruins.  The  style,  for  the 
most  part,  is  like  the  Norman  architecture  of  Sicily,  while 
other  parts  of  the  ruins  remind  me  of  our  early  English 
style.  The  building  altogether  seems  originally  to  have 
been  built  to  serve  the  purpose  of  a  fortress  as  well  as  an 
ecclesiastical  retreat.  It  is  said  to  have  been  founded  in 
the  eleventh  century,  as  a  place  of  rest  for  pilgrims  to  the 
Holy  Sepulcher.  It  rapidly  and  continually  grew  in  im- 
portance till  the  middle  of  the  thirteenth  century,  when 
Christian  influence  was  suddenly  overthrown,  and  all  its 
monuments  destroyed,  or  allowed  gradually  to  decay,  as  in 
this  instance.  Above  the  Norman  door  which  we  had  en- 
tered I  remarked  a  rich  bas-relief  of  groups  of  figures, 
emblematic  designs,  and  monograms,  quaintly  carved ;  but 
this  has  lately  been  so  roughly  used  that  it  is  now  almost 
defaced,  and  future  travelers  will  be  puzzled  to  find  it. 
When  I  revisited  the  spot  in  1859 — four  years  afterward — 
I  found  the  door  blocked  up,  and  the  space  in  front  of  it 
closed  in  and  converted  into  a  store  or  shop,  for  the  sale  of 
glass  beads  and  bracelets  made  at  Hebron.  We  shook  the 
dust  from  our  feet,  and  strolled  a  little  way  along  the  Via 
Dolorosa,  till  we  were  warned  by  the  deepening  shadows, 
and  the  evening  cries  from  the  minarets  around,  that  the 
sun  had  gone  down.  We  hastened  through  the  streets  and 
bazars.  The  little  shops  were  nearly  all  deserted  by  their 
owners,  and  shut  up  for  the  night. 


45 

Our  horses  were  waiting  at  the  gate,  which  was  kept 
open  for  us.  A  few  stragglers  were  hastily  entering  in,  but 
immediately  after  we  had  passed  out,  the  heavy  doors  were 
closed,  to  be  opened  no  more  till  sunrise. 

The  stars  were  coming  out  as  we  rode  homeward,  across 
the  valley  of  Hinnom,  and  through  an  inclosed  plantation 
belonging  to  the  Greek  community,  in  the  center  of  which, 
by  a  well,  under  the  trees,  sat  a  group  of  Arabs  in  a  circle 
on  cushioned  mats,  singing  lustily,  and  swaying  their  bodies 
to  and  fro  slowly,  in  time  with  the  monotonous  tune  which 
they  sang.  A  large  lantern,  hanging  from  a  tree-branch 
above,  lighted  up  the  figures  and  their  many-colored  gar- 
ments, producing  striking  effects  of  light  and  shade. 

We  were  soon  on  the  Talibiyeh  grounds.  An  immense 
number  of  vividly-bright  glow-worms  bordered  the  rocky 
path  which  led  toward  the  house.  I  found  that  by  plac- 
ing a  few  of  them  together,  on  a  stone  or  cool  place,  I 
could  see  to  read  by  the  green  light  which  shone  from  their 
lantern-like  bodies. 

The  next  morning  we  rode  down  the  Valley  of  the  Cross, 
and  over  hills  covered  with  rocks,  poterium  spinosum,  and 
brambles,  toward  the  little  village  of  Lifta,  near  to  which, 
in  a  beautiful  olive  grove  on  a  terraced  hill-side,  Bishop 
Gobat  and  the  Rev.  H.  Crawford  had  encamped  with  their 
large  families.  Their  tents  were  picturesquely  distributed 
under  the  shade  of  large  trees. 

There  was  no  house  on  the  grounds  to  serve  as  a  retreat 
or  shelter  in  the  heat  of  the  day,  as  on  the  Talibiyeh,  but 
the  trees  under  which  Mrs.  Gobat's  pretty  drawing-room  or 
day  tent  was  pitched,  served  almost  as  effectually  as  a  pro- 
tection from  the  sun.  Sofas,  cushions,  easy  chairs,  writing 
tables  and  work  tables,  children  with  their  dolls  or  lesson 
books,  made  the  place  look  quite  homely,  and  took  away 
the  idea  of  the  transitory  nature  of  tent  life.  Mrs.  Gobat 
gave  me  a  hearty  welcome  there,  and  introduced  me  to  her 
friends  who  came  from  the  surrounding  tents,  and  to  the 
children,  who  left  their  studies  or  their  play  to  welcome  us. 


46  DOMESTIC    LIFE   IN  PALESTINE. 

A  large  party  was  soon  assembled  in  the  tent  and  on  the 
sofa  under  the  opposite  tree.  After  a  luncheon  of  fruit  and 
bread,  olives,  and  cheese,  Mrs.  Gobat  smoked  a  narghile, 
evidently  enjoying  it,  and  I  date  the  taste  which  I  acquired 
for  tumbac  from  the  experimental  pipe  which  I  smoked 
with  her.  Coffee,  mulberry  sherbet,  and  bon-bons  were 
handed  around  by  Abyssinian  servants  in  Arab  style.  Mrs. 
Gobat's  fine,  hearty-looking  children,  and  the  fair  little 
Crawfords,  seemed  thoroughly  to  enjoy  tent  life.  They 
showed  me  their  swing  in  the  mulberry-tree,  and  their 
attempts  at  architecture  with  the  heaps  of  stones  around. 
They  led  me  eagerly  from  tent  to  tent,  the  kitchens,  pan- 
tries, and  school,  and  to  the  neat  little  bed  tents,  and  then 
pointed  out  some  of  the  finest  points  of  view.  Neby  Sam- 
uel, the  tomb  of  the  "Prophet  Samuel,"  was  conspicuous 
on  the  summit  of  a  conical  hill,  rising  abruptly  in  the  dis- 
tance on  one  hand,  and  in  another  direction  the  wide- 
spreading  valley,  with  a  little  village  and  its  surrounding 
fields,  vineyards,  and  thrashing-floor  could  be  seen.  A 
beautiful  white  goat  followed  us  wherever  we  went.  It  was 
the  goat  which  Mr.  W.  Holman  Hunt  used  as  his  model 
while  finishing  his  well-known  picture — the  Scapegoat. 
Two  had  died  in  his  service,  but  this  one  became  quite 
tame,  and  would  answer  to  his  call;  he  gave  it  to  these 
children  when  his  picture  was  completed.  The  loud,  shrill 
cry  of  the  cicalas  was  heard  from  every  olive-tree,  and  I 
was  assured  that  at  night  their  noise  is  loud  enough  to  keep 
people  unaccustomed  to  it  awake. 

I  spent  several  pleasant  days  in  this  retreat  on  various 
occasions;  such  as  a  social  dinner-party  at  the  Bishop's, 
when  he  presided  at  a  long  table  under  the  trees,  or  a 
cheerful  tea-party  at  the  Crawfords',  in  their  tents,  partly 
by  the  light  of  the  moon,  and  partly  by  the  light  of  lan- 
terns hanging  in  the  trees,  or  round  the  tent-poles.  In 
these  reunions,  and  at  similar  entertainments  at  Mr.  Finn's, 
I  made  the  acquaintance  of  most  of  the  European  mem- 
bers  of  the  Protestant  community  of  Jerusalem.     Some- 


EUROPEAN  RESIDENCE  AT  JERUSALEM.  47 

times  we  strolled  about  the  grounds  in  little  companies, 
visiting  the  vineyards  and  the  bright-green  sumach  plant- 
ations below,  or  the  thrashing-floor  above,  and  the  few 
scattered  stone  and  mud  hovels,  roofed  with  tree-branches, 
which  were  the  homes  of  the  peasant  guardians  of  the 
ground.  In  one  of  these  little  nooks  we  saw  a  stone  hand- 
mill  and  irwo  women  working  it,  grinding  corn. 

The  Europeans  of  Jerusalem,  especially  those  who  have 
children,  or  who  have  been  accustomed  to  temperate  climes, 
generally  encamp  thus  from  June  to  September,  and  select 
a  site  about  a  mile  or  more  from  the  city,  so  that  the  gen- 
tlemen can  go  into  town  every  day,  while  the  ladies  and 
children  rarely  do  so  except  on  Sunday.  This  is  one  of 
the  pleasantest  phases  in  the  -life  of  the  European  resident 
in  Jerusalem,  and  it  may  be  justly  attributed  to  Mr.  Finn, 
for  he  was  the  first  who  ventured  thus  to  trust  himself  and 
his  family  in  the  open  country.  His  little  stone  house 
on  the  Talibiyeh — of  which  he  was  the  architect,  while 
Jews  were  its  builders — was  the  first  and  for  a  long  time 
the  only  private #dwelling-house  outside  the  city;  whereas 
now,  1862,  buildings  of  importance  and  commodious  dwell- 
ing-houses are  rapidly  rising  on  the  hills  round  about  Je- 
rusalem. 

On  Sunday,  July  8th,  we  had  a  pleasant  early  ride  into 
town,  and  the  chimes  of  the  church  bells  welcomed  us. 
Flags  were  hoisted  at  all  the  Consulates.  Ladies  and 
children  from  distant  encampments  were  alighting  at  the 
doors  of  the  Anglican  church  from  sleek  and  gayly-tr^pped 
donkeys.  The  congregation  consisted  of  about  a  hundred 
Europeans,  including  children,  and  about  half  as  many 
Arabs  and  Jewish  converts.  The  transepts  were  occupied 
by  the  children  of  the  diocesan  schools,  all  in  simple 
European  dress,  but  it  was  easy  to  distinguish  the  bright, 
intelligent  countenances  of  the  Jewish  children — the  gentle 
and  amiable-looking  little  Abyssinians — the  long-headed 
Copts — the  precocious  and  handsome  Arabs — and  the  pretty 
little  Armenians,  in  spite  of  their  uncharacteristic  costumes. 


48  DOMESTIC    LIFE  IN  PALESTINE. 

The  glare  and  heat  were  excessive,  so  I  gladly  accepted 
shelter  at  Mr.  Nicolayson's  till  the  cool  of  the  day,  and  we 
rode  to  the  Talibiyeh  a  little  before  sunset.  Crowds  of 
Arabs  in  holiday  costume  were  strolling  on  the  Medan, 
a  large  extent  of  table-land  north-west  of  the  city,  where 
the  troops  are  exercised.  It  is  the  favorite  promenade  of 
the  citizens. 

The  men's  dresses  were  picturesque  and  various  in  the 
extreme,  and  of  every  tint  and  color,  from  the  somber 
robes  of  the  procession  of  monks,  to  the  gorgeously-em- 
broidered jackets  of  the  Turkish  officers  and  employh^  the 
high-pointed  hats  and  long  gabardines  of  the  Jews,  the 
bright  sashes  and  turbans  of  the  Moslem  gentleman,  and 
the  light-braided  suits  and  red  tarbushes  of  the  Christian 
Arabs.  The  women,  who  kept  in  groups  quite  apart  from 
the  men,  sitting  under  the  olive-trees  or  strolling  into  the 
valley  below,  were  all  shrouded  in  sheets,  and  whether 
Jewish,  Christian,  or  Moslem,  the  only  variety  in  their 
dress  depended  on  the  color  of  the  vail  or  mask,  and  the 
form  or  color  of  the  shoes.  Some  of  the  kdies  wore  Euro- 
pean shoes,  others  had  socks  and  pointed  slippers  of  yellow 
leather.  The  black  slaves  wore  only  red  or  yellow  slip- 
pers, and  thus  could  be  distinguished  from  their  mistresses. 
A  few  of  the  ladies  carried  gay  parasols  embroidered  with 
spangles. 

By  starlight  we  wandered  to  the  high  ground  behind  the 
Talibiyeh.  We  could  see  watch-fires  on  many  of  the  hills 
around  and  on  the  Bethlehem  plain,  and  heard  in  the  still 
night  air  echoes  of  the  clear  shrill  voices  of  far-off  shep- 
herds, who  were  "watching  their  flocks  by  night,"  and 
giving  signals  perhaps  to  their  fellow-watchers. 

On  Tuesday,  10th,  I  again  rode  into  town,  walked  down 
Christian-street  and  through  the  chief  bazars,  now  de- 
scending a  dirty  crooked  street  of  stairs,  now  passing  under 
narrow  archways,  dark  and  dusty,  and  through  wide,  lofty 
arcades  or  bazars,  where  the  butchers'  market,  the  bread, 
fruit,  grain,  and  leather  markets  were  respectively  held. 


BAZAKS  AND   SHOPKEEPERS.  4^ 

The  shopkeepers  were  crying  to  the  passers-by,  "  Ho, 
every  one  that  hath  money,  let  him  come  and  buy  !"  *'  Ho, 
such  a  one,  come  and  buy !"  But  some  of  them  seemed  to 
be  more  disinterested,  and  one  of  the  fruiterers,  offering 
me  preserves  and  fruit,  said,  "  O  lady,  take  of  our  fruit 
without  money  and  without  price ;  it  is  yours,  take  all  that 
you  will,"  and  he  would  gladly  have  laden  our  kawass  with 
the  good  things  of  his  store,  and  then  have  claimed  double 
their  value.  In  a  street  leading  to  one  of  the  bazars,  a 
number  of  peasant  women  and  girls  from  Bethany  and 
Siloam  were  selling  vegetables  and  fruit.  They  did  not 
wear  the  white  shroud  of  the  townspeople.  Their  dresses 
were  chiefly  of  indigo-dyed  linen,  and  made  like  long  shirts, 
girdled  with  red  shawls  or  sashes.  Their  heads  were  cov- 
ered with  colored  handkerchiefs  or  shawls,  or  white  towels, 
so  arranged  as  partially  to  conceal  their  faces,  which  were 
very  dark  and  tattooed  with  blue  stars  and  dots  on  the  fore- 
head and  round  the  lips.  Their  dark  eyes  looked  larger 
and  darker  on  account  of  the  kohl  on  the  eyelids,  and  the 
black  pigment  on  the  eyebrows.  They  wore  colored  glass 
bracelets — made  at  Hebron — silver  anklets,  and  some  of 
them  had  necklaces  of  coins  and  silver  rings.  A  very 
striking-looking  young  Siloam  girl  said  to  me,  taking  hold 
of  my  dress,  "  Taste  of  the  fruit  of  our  gardens  and  our 
vineyards,  0  sister!"  My  brother,  by  accident  in  passing 
a  shrouded  yellow-booted  figure  in  the  crowded  street, 
slightly  disarranged  the  folds  of  her  izzar,  and  he  said, 
"Your  pardon,  Ya  Sitti" — 0  my  lady!  She  answered, 
"  Say  not,  '  Ya  Sitti '  to  me ;  say  it  rather  to  the  queen  of 
heaven."  We  met  a  large  number  of  people  afl3.icted  with 
ophthalmy,  and  partial  or  entire  loss  of  sight ;  but  deformed 
persons  are  comparatively  rare  in  Palestine. 

In  one  of  the  most  bustling  bazars  we  saw  a  tall,  gaunt 
man  gesticulating  in  the  midst  of  a  crowd.  He  was  almost 
naked,  for  he  wore  only  a  ragged  strip  of  sackcloth  round 
his  loins.  He  carried  in  one  hand  a  long,  stout  staff,  and 
in  the   other  a  large  stone.     His  vehement  exclamations, 

5 


50  DOMESTIC  LIFE  IN  PALESTINE. 

excited  manner,  and  fiery  eyes  reminded  me  of  the  descrip- 
tions of  the  prophets,  as  well  as  of  the  possessed  of  demons 
in  days  of  old.  His  hair  was  long  and  wild,  and  his  beard 
hung  to  his  waist. 

He  cried  out  in  Arabic,  "  The  city  shall  be  made  deso- 
late, fire  shall  consume  it,  because  of  its  wickedness,"  etc. ; 
and,  notwithstanding  his  violent  maledictions,  and  the 
weapons  he  carried,  the  people  around  did  not  interfere 
with  him  or  molest  him.  He  was  evidently  mad — or 
majnUn,  as  the  Arabs  say — and  my  brother  told  me  that 
he  had  for  years  been  a  tolerated  wanderer  in  the  bazars, 
and  wherever  he  went  an  idle  crowd  followed  him.  He 
lived  on  charity.  The  Orientals  invariably  treat  with  kind- 
ness and  consideration  those  who  are  thus  afflicted,  believ- 
ing them  to  be  under  the  especial  protection  of  God.  It 
is  imagined  that  they  have  a  greater  knowledge  of  spiritual 
things  in  proportion  to  their  want  of  it  concerning  things 
of  this  life;  in  fact,  in  the  East,  a  "madman"  and  a 
"prophet"  are  almost  synonymous  terms. 

We  entered  the  quiet,  picturesque,  but  narrow  street,  in 
which  the  Prussian  Consul  resides.  Pointed  arches,  with 
groined  and  fretted  roofs,  cross  it  here  and  there,  and  fine 
buttresses  support  some  of  the  houses,  which  are  built  of 
large,  well-hewn,  beveled  stones,  put  together  with  lead 
instead  of  mortar.  The  deep-arched  entrances,  canopied 
with  dropping  fretwork,  are  good  examples  of  the  Moresque 
style.  Low  stone  divans,  or  benches,  just  within  the  por- 
tals were  occupied  by  stately-looking  armed  servants,  or 
black  slaves.  There  are  many  alabaster  tablets  and  friezes 
let  into  the  walls,  over  doors,  or  under  oriel  windows,  or  in 
arched  recesses,  on  which  Arabic  inscriptions  and  mono- 
grams are  elaborately  carved  in  slight  relief,  and  in  some 
cases  illuminated  in  red,  blue,  and  gold.  The  graceful  Ori- 
ental characters,  with  their  flowing  lines,  are  well  adapted 
for  this  sort  of  ornamentation,  and  are  very  extensively 
used  in  the  exterior  as  well  as  interior  decorations  of 
Moresque  buildings.     Ancient  carved  capitals,  near  to  the 


MORESQUE  BUILDINGS.  51 

doorways,  served  as  stepping  stones ;  and  in  many  places 
horses  were  haltered  to  large  perforated  blocks,  which  pro- 
jected from  the  walls. 

We  made  our  way  along  the  Via  Dolorosa,  pausing, 
sometimes,  while  a  long  line  of  donkeys,  laden  with  stones 
or  brushwood,  jogged  by,  enveloped  in  a  cloud  of  dust ;  or 
when  a  string  of  unwieldy  camels,  bearing  melons  to  the 
market,  almost  blocked  up  the  way. 

We  met  the  colonel  of  the  Turkish  cavalry,  and  several 
officers.  They  kindly  invited  me  to  mount  the  rude  steps 
leading  to  a  broad  and  elevated  terrace  of  the  Seraglio,  or 
Pasha's  Palace.  From  this  central  and  lofty  spot,  I  first 
gained  a  general  idea  of  the  city,  and  the  surrounding 
hills.  The  building  on  which  I 'stood  was  partly  formed 
by  the  north  wall  of  the  Haram,  or  Great  Mosque  inclos- 
ure;  and  thus,  looking  toward  the  south,  I  overlooked  its 
entire  area,  which  is  almost  equal  in  extent  to  one-quarter 
of  the  whole  city.  In  its  center  the  well-known  Kubbet- 
es-Sakhara,  or  "  Dome  of  the  Rock,"  stands. 

The  beautiful  cupola,  resting  on  a  circular  base,  crowns 
a  wide-spreading  octagonal  building,  each  side  of  which  is 
ornamented  with  six  lofty  arches,  and  the  lower  part  is 
faced  with  bright  enameled  tiles  of  many  tints.  This 
building  is  on  a  large  square  platform,  raised  considerably 
above  the  other  parts  of  the  inclosure,  and  is  approached 
from  six  points  by  broad  flights  of  steps,  which  lead  to 
light  and  graceful  entrances,  divided  by  three  or  four  elab- 
orately-carved columns  and  pointed  arches.  There  are 
many  little  praying  niches  and  stone  canopies,  supported 
on  columns,  and  alabaster  pulpits  on  the  platform,  as  well 
as  in  the  grass-grown  inclosure  below,  where  the  white 
stone  walls  and  domes  are  relieved  by  the  dark  beauty  of 
the  cypress  and  the  silvery  shade  of  olives,  and  some  few 
shrubs  in  flower.  A  beautiful  grove  of  trees  leads  to  the 
Mosque-el-Aksa,  which  is  in  the  southern  part  of  the  area, 
where  its  long  and  gabled  roof,  large  dome,  and  Saracenic 
fagade  are  conspicuous.     Groups  of  white-turbaned  Mos- 


52  DOMESTIC   LIFE  IN   PALESTINE. 

lems  sitting  in  the  tree-shade,  solitary  devotees  at  the  little 
shrines  or  niches,  and  the  slow  pacing  of  Turkish  sentries 
or  black  slave  guardians  of  the  Holy  Place,  gave  some 
animation  to  the  otherwise  picture-like  stillness  of  the  scene. 

The  contrast  is  very  great  between  this  bright  spot  on 
Mount  Moriah  and  the  other  part  of  the  city,  which  is 
traversed  by  a  valley  and  covered  with  irregular  masses  of 
white-domed  and  terraced  buildings,  relieved  here  and  there 
by  a  tree,  a  church,  or  a  minaret.  The  extreme  southern 
quarter  is  the  most  desolate,  and  is  inhabited  by  the  Jews. 
The  south-west  portion  is  chiefly  thronged  by  Armenians, 
where  their  convent  stands,  white  and  conspicuous,  and 
marks  their  quarter  distinctly.  The  north-west  quarter — 
the  highest — is  more  frequented  by  Franks;  and  the  Church 
of  the  Holy  Sepulcher,  the  Latin  convent,  the  Protestant 
church,  and  various  consulates,  proclaim  it.  The  north- 
east is  the  Moslem  quarter.  The  patches  of  open  land 
within  the  city  are,  in  some  places,  used  as  drying-grounds 
for  indigo-dyed  linen;  while  others  have  become  public  dust- 
heaps  or  dunghills.  I  could  trace  the  battlemented  walls 
of  the  city,  now  following  the  downward  sweep  into  the 
valley,  and  then  rising  in  an  irregular  line  to  crown  the 
hights  of  Zion. 

After  we  had  lingered  there  for  some  time,  fascinated 
by  the  scenes  around,  the  military  governor  led  us  to  a 
divan,  where  we  took  coffee  and  sherbet.  He  excused 
himself  for  not  taking  refreshments  with  us,  for  it  was 
Ramadan,  the  month  in  which  Moslems  fast  from  sunrise 
to  sunset  daily. 

We  then  called  on  several  European  families — English, 
German,  Greek,  and  Russian.  The  vaulted  stone  chambers 
in  which  we  were  generally  received  were  cool  and  pleas- 
ant even  at  midday,  and  so  furnished  as  to  combine  Ori- 
ental and  Western  luxuries.  In  the  deep,  arched  recesses 
and  broad  window-seats,  soft  cushions  were  arranged  and 
loose  muslin  drapery  floated  from  the  open  windows,  fanning 
the  air.     Glowing  Turkey  carpets   and  Egyptian  matting 


EUROPEAN  HOMES  IN  JERUSALEM.        53 

covered  the  stone  floors.  The  newspapers,  bookcases,  pic- 
tures, pianos,  and  little  works  of  art  or  knickknacks,  pro- 
claimed that  Europeans  had  made  homes  there;  while  on 
the  terraces,  and  under  the  columned  corridors,  English 
flowers  appeared  among  the  native  oleanders  and  jasmines, 
shaded  by  vine-covered  trellises.  But  in  these  European- 
ized  houses,  European  servants  are  very  rare.  Almost 
every-where  Abyssinian  men-servants  are  sought  in  pref- 
erence to  natives,  for  they  are  intelligent,  attentive,  and 
faithful;  and  the  hardy,  but  somewhat  self-willed,  Bethle- 
hem women  are  in  great  request  as  house-servants,  for  they 
are  clean  and  comparatively  careful.  I  perceived  that  the 
training  and  management  of  a  staff  of  Oriental  attendants 
is  one  of  the  chief  difficulties  that  European  ladies  have 
to  contend  with. 

July  15th  was  a  very  sultry  day.  We  all  retired  early 
to  our  tents,  fatigued  with  the  heat.  About  midnight  I 
was  aroused  by  the  violent  movement  of  my  light  tent 
bedstead,  and  a  loud  murmuring  noise.  My  first  thought 
was  that  an  earthquake  was  disturbing  the  hills;  then  I 
fancied  that  some  wild  beast  was  near;  and,  lastly,  I  came 
to  the  conclusion — which  proved  to  be  the  right  one — that 
my  tent  was  in  danger  of  being  carried  away  by  a  whirl- 
wind. It  had  blown  open  in  two  places,  and  its  yielding 
walls   beat  against   the  light  frame-work  of  my  bedstead. 

The  noise  of  the  flapping  canvas,  the  tightening  and 
straining  of  the  tent  ropes,  the  rustling  and  snapping  of 
the  young  trees,  and  the  continuous  rocking,  kept  me 
awake  for  a  long  while.  I  quite  expected  to  be  left 
shelterless,  for  I  was  on  the  highest  part  (rf  the  grounds. 

On  the  morning  of  July  16th  there  was  a  general  fixing 
and  repairing  of  tents,  and  a  search  for  hammers  and  tent- 
pegs,  for  all  the  canvas  dwellings  had  been  more  or  less 
disturbed  by  the  wild  wind  of  the  preceding  night.  At 
sunrise,  the  air  was  soft  and  warm,  but  clouds  were  being 
driven  from  the  north  in  large  masses,  burnished  by  the 
morning  sun.     A  south-west  wind  had  driven  those  clouds 


64  DOMESTIC  LIFE  IN  PALESTINE. 

from  Egypt  a  day  or  two  before,  and  now,  unbroken,  they 
"were  chased  back  again  to  their  source,  the  mighty  Nile. 
We  wandered  through  the  grounds,  replanting  the  uprooted 
trees,  and  supporting  the  fallen  ones,  for  none  had  escaped 
injury. 

Before  breakfast,  I  rode  with  my  brother  to  the  Convent 
of  the  Cross,  in  the  lonely  valley  to  which  it  gives  a  name. 
The  convent  has  been  lately  very  thoroughly  restored  by 
the  Greeks,  to  whom  it  now  belongs;  and  an  excellent 
college  has  been  established  there  for  about  forty  or  fifty 
students.  It  was  formerly  the  property  of  the  Georgians, 
and  was  founded  by  them  in  the  fifth  century,  on  the  very 
spot  where  grew  the  tree  which  furnished  the  wood  of  the 
cross.  This  is,  at  least,  the  tradition  which  our  monkish 
attendant  gravely  told  as  he  led  us  into  the  church,  a  fine 
building,  about  seventy  feet  long,  with  a  groined  roof  sup- 
ported by  four  massive  piers.  The  walls  are  covered  with 
curious  frescoes;  and  the  altar-screen  contains  a  pictorial 
history  of  the  sacred  tree,  from  the  time  it  was  planted  by 
Abraham  and  Lot,  till  it  was  hewn  down  and  formed  into 
a  cross.  As  sculpture  is  strictly  forbidden  in  the  Georgian 
and  Greek  churches,  all  the  decorations  depend  on  color; 
but  in  some  of  the  pictures  there  was  a  compromise,  the 
figures  being  cut  out  in  thin  wood,  and  mounted  on  appro- 
priate backgrounds.  The  nimbus,  in  almost  every  instance, 
is  formed  of  pure  gold,  and  stones  and  jewels  are  intro- 
duced in  the  adornment  of  the  dresses. 

In  the  center  of  the  church  is  a  large  square  pavement 
of  mosaic,  the  finest  I  met  with  in  Palestine.  Quaint  birds, 
curious  figures,  and  Christian  symbols  are  represented,  and 
in  the  lozenge-shaped  spaces  left  by  the  intersecting  lines 
of  the  frame-work  of  these  devices,  most  beautiful  designs 
are  introduced.  The  tesserae  of  which  this  pavement  is 
composed  are  about  three-quarters  of  an  inch  square,  and 
are  black,  white,  red,  blue,  and  yellow.  We  hastened  back 
to  breakfast.  The  blue  sky  was  flecked  with  fleecy  clouds 
fastly  moving,  and  the  mountains  round  us  were  checkered 


BUILDINGS   OF  THE   CONVENT.  55, 

with  their  shadows.  One  moment  a  hill  was  crowned  with 
sunlight,  the  next  it  was  all  in  shade.  The  flocks  of  goats 
hrowsing  on  the  hill-sides,  and  peasant  women  making  their 
way  to  the  city,  laden  with  vegetables,  bowls  of  milk,  and 
baskets  of  fowls,  animated  the  landscape.  L.  and  the 
children  returned  with  me  to  the  convent,  where  I  spent 
the  whole  day,  drawing  delightedly  some  of  the  curious 
mosaic  pictures.  (I  will  refer  those  who  take  an  interest 
in  early  Christian  art  to  No.  878  of  the  Builder,  published 
December  3,  1859,  in  which  some  examples  of  these  are 
given  from  my  sketch-book.)  Considering  that  these 
buildings  were  deserted  and  left  in  ruins  for  two  or  three 
centuries,  it  is  surprising  that  so  much  of  the  ancient  work 
remains  in  good  preservation.  We  were  led  to  a  cavern 
under  the  altar,  and  the  identical  spot  where  the  sacred 
tree  grew  was  pointed  out  to  us  in  a  damp  and  dark  recess. 
We  saw  some  workmen  destroying  an  ancient  Georgian 
MS.  They  were  using  the  parchment  to  make  bags  for 
their  dry  powdered  colors,  and  willingly  gave  me  a  few 
sheets.  The  garden  terrace  of  the  convent  is  roofed  with 
trellis-work  covered  with  vines,  and  the  rich  fruit  hung 
above  us  in  heavy  clusters.  We  strolled  home  on  foot, 
gathering  bright- blue  borage,  wild  pinks,  and  geraniums. 

A  red,  cloudy  sunset  was  followed  by  a  calm  moonlight 
night,  only  disturbed  by  prowling  jackals,  noisy  hyenas, 
and  wild  dogs  without,  and  buzzing  musketoes  within.  In 
the  morning  1  found  the  tent  curtains  saturated  with  dew, 
and  the  garments  which  had  been  hanging  there  during  the 
night  were  too  damp  to  be  put  on  with  safety. 


56  DOMESTIC  LIFE  IN  PALESTINE. 


CHAPTEH  III. 

AROUND  ABOUT  JERUSALEM. 

In  the  mean  time  all  my  leisure  hours  were  spent  in 
studying  Arabic.  The  little  ones  at  the  Talibiyeh  were 
never  tired  of  adding  to  my  vocabulary,  which  I  prac- 
tically applied  whenever  an  opportunity  arose,  such  as 
during  the  visits  of  Arab  guests  or  work-people,  and  in 
my  daily  intercourse  with  the  native  attendants,  whose 
voices  rapidly  grew  familiar  to  me.  Some  of  the  elder 
women-servants  were  very  demonstrative  and  affectionate, 
and  often  when  I  uttered  a  request,  or  gave  directions 
in  some  newly-acquired  words,  they  would  reward  me,  (?) 
or  testify  their  delight  by  clasping  me  in  their  arms  and 
kissing  me.  I  had  been  accustomed  to  hear  Arabic  spoken 
for  a  year  or  more,  so  the  sounds  were  not  strange  to  me. 

On  the  17th  of  July,  after  a  quiet  day  of  study,  I 
started  with  my  brother  for  Beit  Lahm — that  is,  Beth- 
lehem— the  sun  was  going  down,  and  purple  shadows  were 
swiftly  rising  in  the  eastern  sky.  We  made  our  way  over 
a  rocky,  pathless  slope,  and  a  few  fields  of  sesame,  till  we 
reached  the  broad  level  road  which  traverses  the  fertile 
plain  of  Rephaim,  where  the  Philistines  were  routed  by 
David.  This  road  is  about  a  mile  in  length,  and  is  the 
only  place  remaining  in  the  neighborhood  of  Jerusalem  fit 
for  a  carriage  drive,  though  in  many  spots  traces  may  be 
seen  of  ancient  roads,  telling  of  the  time  when  "  King 
Solomon  had  four  thousand  stalls  for  horsemen  and  chariots, 
and  twelve  thousand  horsemen,  which  he  bestowed  in  the 
chariot  cities  and  at  Jerusalem." 

We  passed  over  the  plain  quickly,  the  kawass  galloping 
before  us,  and  soon  came  to  a  spot  where  no  carriage  could 


VISIT   TO   BETHLEHEM.  57 

have  served  us.  Our  horses  stumbled  over  smooth  slabs 
of  rock  and  loose  stones  as  we  rose  on  to  the  rounded  and 
terraced  hill  on  which  stands  the  Convent  of  Mar  Elias, 
or  Elijah,  a  massive  building  of  gray  masonry,  in  the  midst 
of  olive  groves  and  flourishing  plantations.  A  moon  of 
three  days  old  and  her  attendant  star  shone  in  the  clear 
blue  sky,  just  above  the  silvered  tree-tops.  We  paused  on 
the  hill  to  rest  our  panting  horses,  and  to  look  around  us. 
Southward  we  could  see  the  picturesque  town  of  Bethlehem, 
white  and  gleaming.  Between  the  hills  to  the  east  we 
caught  glimpses  of  the  Dead  Sea,  and  the  Moab  mountains 
beyond.  Turning  to  the  north  we  saw,  brightened  by  the 
moonlight,  the  southern  wall  of  Jerusalem,  and  the  build- 
ings on  the  brow  of  Mount  Zion;  and  on  the  west  an  olive 
grove  bounded  the  view.  The  kawass  brought  me  some 
water,  in  a  curious  little  two-handled  cup  of  red  pottery, 
from  the  stone  reservoir  provided  for  travelers  by  the  good 
monks  of  Mar  Elias. 

We  then  descended  abruptly  into  a  valley  by  a  declivity 
which  would  have  terrified  me  a  week  or  two  before;  but  I 
had  become  accustomed  to  rough  riding  on  the  rude  hills 
round  about  Jerusalem.  We  reascended,  and  swept  round 
hill-sides  covered  with  well-kept  terraces  of  fig  and  olive- 
trees.  The  rude  parapets  supporting  the  rich  earth  were 
garnished  with  hanging  creepers  and  luxuriant  foliage, 
which  threw  dark  but  delicate  shadows  on  the  white  lime- 
stone. Here  and  there  we  saw  rows  of  quaint-looking 
ravens,  perched  on  the  rock  ledges  tier  above  tier;  some 
of  them  silent  and  motionless,  others  nodding  their  heads 
together  as  if  in  consultation.  A  pleasant  bridle-path, 
half-way  up  the  western  boundary  of  a  broad  valley,  led 
us  toward  the  white  walls  and  flat-roofed  houses  of  Beth- 
lehem. We  passed  under  a  pointed  archway,  and  between 
low,  scattered  buildings,  till  we  entered  a  high-walled, 
gloomy  street.  Looking  down  on  our  left,  we  caught 
glimpses  through  the  open  doors  of  family  groups,  in 
lamp-lit  rooms,  built  a  few  steps  below  the  level  of  the 


58  DOMESTIC  LIFE  IN  PALESTINE. 

road.  Cheerful-looking  women  and  children  and  stern- 
browed  men  strained  their  eyes,  looking  out  of  the  light 
into  the  darkness,  to  try  to  see  us  as  we  passed — the  clat- 
tering of  our  horses'  feet  over  the  stones  having  broken 
the  stillness  of  the  place.  We  came  again  to  an  open 
terrace,  and  could  see  the  hill-side  above  and  below  dotted 
with  houses,  on  the  flat  roofs  of  which  many  families  were 
already  sleeping.  From  the  unglazed  windows  flickering 
lights  were  shining.  Clusters  of  trees  grow  here  and 
there  throughout  the  town.  The  Church  of  the  Nativity, 
surrounded  by  convent  buildings,  rises  like  some  baronial 
castle,  gloomily  and  grandly,  on  the  steepest  side  of  the 
hill. 

We  passed  under  a  deep  arched  way,  which  led  us  into 
the  Convent  Court,  where  we  alighted,  and  were  kindly 
welcomed  by  the  Latin  recluses,  who  were  expecting  us. 
The  Spanish  Consul  of  Jerusalem  and  his  wife  were  there; 
with  them  and  the  Superior,  and  a  few  well-educated 
Spanish  and  Italian  monks,  we  passed  the  evening  pleas- 
antly in  the  divaned  reception-room.  After  an  excellent 
supper  we  were  shown  to  our  several  apartments.  The 
Superior  led  me  to  a  large,  vaulted,  gloomy  chamber,  in 
which  I  felt  quite  lost,  when  the  heavy  door  closed  upon 
me  and  I  was  alone.  There  were  eight  closely-curtained 
iron  bedsteads  in  the  room,  and  I  peeped  rather  timidly 
into  every  one.  A  small  lamp  of  red  clay,  like  a  deep 
saucer,  with  a  lip  on  one  side  shaped  to  support  the 
lighted  wick,  stood  in  a  little  niche;  but  its  feeble  red 
glow  was  almost  lost  in  a  stream  of  moonlight  which  fell 
from  the  grated,  unglazed  window  above  the  door,  glancing 
on  the  walls  and  the  white  curtains,  and  throwing  a  patch 
of  checkered  light  on  the  stone  floor.  I  was  a  martyr  to 
musketoes  that  night,  and  as  soon  as  daylight  appeared 
through  the  grated  window  I  rose,  and  wandered  about 
the  corridors,  meeting  the  monks  on  their  way  to  morning 
prayer,  and  witnessing  the  distribution  of  bread  to  the 
poor  convent  pensioners  who  crowded  to  the  gates.     The 


CHURCH   OF   THE  NATIVITY.  59 

women  carried  away  their '  provisions  in  the  corners  of  their 
linen  vails,  but  the  men  and  boys  put  their  loaves  of  bread 
in  the  bosom  of  their  open  shirts,  their  girdles  supporting 
the  burden. 

On  meeting  my  brother  we  went,  guided  by  one  of  the 
Latin  monks,  to  the  Church  of  the  Nativity,  built  by 
the  Empress  Helena,  in  A.  D.  327.  It  is  said  to  be  the 
oldest  monument  of  Christian  architecture  in  the  world. 
The  shafts  of  the  forty  columns  which  support  the  fine 
architrave  and  decaying  roof  are  each  of  a  single  piece 
of  marble,  more  than  two  feet  in  diameter,  about  six- 
teen feet  in  hight,  and  surmounted  by  elaborately-carved 
capitals.  These  may  have  formed  a  part  of  some  more 
ancient  building.  It  has  been  suggested  that  they  were 
brought  from  the  ruins  of  the  Temple  at  Jerusalem.  The 
upper  part  of  these  columns  are  frescoed  with  Greek  and 
Byzantine  figures  of  saints  and  martyrs,  while  lower  down 
are  some  curious  sketches  and  monograms,  by  crusaders 
perhaps,  or  pilgrims  of  the  Middle  Ages.  Above  the 
columns  and  on  the  walls  there  are  remains  of  ancient 
mosaic  pictures  of  glass,  and  stone,  and  metal.  I  could 
make  out  groups  of  figures,  views  of  cities,  strange  devices, 
and  ornamental  borders.  They  had  been  recently  discov- 
ered under  plaster-work,  and  were  being  ruthlessly  scraped 
away,  when  an  English  traveler  put  a  stop  to  the  destruc- 
tion by  pointing  out  to  the  Superior  the  value  and  interest 
of  these  relics. 

Here  the  Greeks,  Latins,  and  Armenians  have  their 
several  shrines  and  services,  and  they  sometimes  have 
very  fierce  conflicts  about  them.  We  went  down  into  the 
Grotto  of  the  Nativity,  so  well  known  through  dioramic 
and  other  pictures,  with  its  silver  lamps,  its  fumes  of  in- 
cense, silken  tapestries,  and  gilded  saints.  On  the  floor  in 
front  of  the  altar  a  star  marks  the  spot  said  by  tradition 
to  show  the  very  place  where  Christ  was  born;  but  I  was 
not  moved  with  mysterious  awe;  it  was  not  here  that  I 
realized  the  scene  in  the  manger;  and  surrounded  as  I  was 


60  DOMESTIC  LIFE  IN  PALESTINE. 

by  priests,  in  their  gorgeous  robes,  and  pictures,  and 
treasures,  from  France,  Italy,  Spain,  and  Greece,  I  could 
scarcely  even  believe  that  I  was  in  Bethlehem. 

We  visited  the  convent  schools.  In  one  room  fourteen 
handsome,  intelligent-looking  Bethlehem  boys  were  learning 
Italian.  They  showed  us  their  exercises  and  translations, 
and  sang  a  Latin  hymn  to  the  Virgin,  giving  a  peculiarly 
Oriental  twang  to  the  last  sounds  of  every  line.  Another 
school-room  which  we  entered  was  crowded  with  younger 
boys,  learning  to  read  and  write  Arabic;  but  they  were 
dirty,  disorderly,  and  noisy,  and  we  did  not  linger  there. 

After  taking  breakfast  with  the  Latin  Superior — who  re- 
lated to  us  stories  of  recent  miracles  wrought  in  the  sacred 
grotto,  with  earnestness  and  simplicity,  as  if  he  thoroughly 
believed  what  he  said,  and  wished  us  to  benefit  by  it — we 
hastened  away,  and  walked  through  the  steep  streets  and 
passages,  and  among  the  scattered  buildings  of  the  town. 
It  is  almost  entirely  peopled  by  Christian  Arabs,  of  the 
Latin,  Greek,  and  Armenian  Churches,  and  they  number 
altogether  about  three  thousand  two  hundred.*  They 
cultivate  their  fields  and  terraced  gardens  with  care,  and 
send  large  supplies  of  vegetables  and  fruit  to  Jerusalem 
every  day;  but  one  of  the  principal  occupations  of  the 
Bethlehemites  is  the  carving  of  various  articles  in  mother- 
of-pearl  and  olive-wood. 

We  inquired  for  a  young  man,  an  orphan,  whom  my 
brother  knew  to  be  one  of  the  most  skillful  carvers  in  the 
town.      The   neighbors   who   guided   us   to  his  door  said : 

*  There  was  formerly  a  considerable  Mohammedan  quarter  in  Bethlehem ;  but 
after  the  insurrection  of  the  people  in  1834  it  was  entirely  destroyed.  The  house- 
less Moslems  fled  and  distributed  themselves  over  the  neighboring  country,  some 
settled  in  Moslem  villages,  and  others  enlisted.  A  few  took  to  tent  life,  and  have 
ever  since  wandered  about  like  the  Bedouins,  except  that  they  retain  their  custom 
of  observing  religious  forms  and  ceremonies,  fasts  and  feasts,  more  strictly  than 
nomadic  tribes  usually  do.  During  the  month  of  Bamadan,  they  select  a  spot  for 
their  encampment  within  sight  of  Jerusalem,  that  they  may  see  the  flash  of  the 
gun  fired  from  the  citadel  at  sunset,  to  announce  the  moment  when  Moslems  may 
break  their  fast. 

Some  of  these  scattered  Moslems,  however,  are  by  degrees  returning,  to  settle 
in  Bethlehem. 


THE    CARVER   OF   BEIT   LAHM.  61 

"  Be  glad,  and  enter  in  with  joy,  for  this  is  to-day  a  house 
of  rejoicing."  We  found  the  carver  at  his  work,  seated  on 
the  floor.  He  rose  up  with  evident  delight  to  receive  my 
brother,  who  had  formerly  protected  him,  and  helped  to 
establish  him  in  business.  He  said,  "  Welcome,  0  my 
master!  thank  God  that  he  has  led  you  back  to  this  land, 
to  see  the  fruit  of  your  goodness,  the  work  of  your  hand. 
You  have  built  up  my  house,  you  have  made  me  to  rejoice, 
you  have  given  me  a  son !"  My  brother  replied,  laugh- 
ingly, "You  speak  in  riddles  darkly,  make  your  words 
plain,  O  my  friend."  The  carveiv  took  up  a  handful  of 
tools,  saying :  "  0  my  protector,  you  gave  me  these  tools-^ 
these  tools  brought  me  gold — the  gold  brought  me  a  wife, 
and  my  wife  brought  me  a  son,  on  the  night  of  the  new 
moon !" 

He  had  once  been  in  my  brother's  service,  and  during 
that  time  showed  decided  taste  for  carving,  which  my 
brother  encouraged  by  giving  him  a  little  instruction  in  the 
art,  and  some  English  tools. 

Round  the  room,  and  hanging  on  the  white-washed  walls, 
were  a  liumber  of  small  inlaid  mother-of-pearl  table-tops, 
about  half  a  yard  square,  intended  for  the  stands  or  stools 
on  which  coffee  and  preserves  are  placed  in  Oriental  estab- 
lishments. Carved  rosaries,  crucifixes,  cups,  and  crosses, 
of  olive-wood,  decorated  the  place.  The  carver  showed  us, 
with  especial  pride,  some  large  flat  shells,  on  which  he  had 
sculptured  pictures  of  sacred  subjects  and  holy  places ;  and 
some  beads  carved  in  bitumen,  from  the  shores  of  the  Dead 
Sea.  During  the  past  Easter  he  had  reaped  a  goodly  har- 
vest, for  the  pilgrims  eagerly  buy  these  objects,  and,  when 
they  are  blessed  by  the  priests,  preserve  them  as  relics. 
The  English  travelers,  too,  had  bought  a  great  number  of 
paper  knives,  bracelets,  and  brooches,  made  at  my  brother's 
suggestion — the  original  sketches  for  which  the  carver  had 
preserved  with  loving  care,  and  with  new  expressions  of 
gratitude  he  showed  them  to  me,  saying,  "Peace  be  on  his 
hands."      While    speaking,   he  was   especially   bright  and 


bZ  DOMESTIC  LIFE  IN  PALESTINE. 

intelligent-looking.  His  long  dark-blue  and  red-striped  coat, 
his  crimson  girdle,  and  red  and  yellow  shawl  head-dress, 
twisted  into  turban-form,  became  him  well.  He  invited  me 
to  see  his  wife  and  child.  I  delightedly  rose  and  followed 
him  across  a  little  square  court-yard,  partly  sheltered  by 
matting,  supported  by  planks  and  tree  branches,  and  partly 
by  a  vine,  which  traveled  over  a  rude  trellis-work.  In  one 
corner  of  this  court  were  a  large  number  of  oyster-shells 
from  the  Red  Sea,  some  of  them  a  quarter  of  a  yard  in 
diameter;  lumps  of  bitumen,  from  the  wilderness  of  'Ain 
Jidy;  and  pieces  of  rock,  from  Jerusalem,  of  red  and 
yellow  tints.  The  carver  pointed  these  out  to  me  as  his 
stock  of  raw  material.  A  pile  of  fine  melons,  and  a  row 
of  water  jars,  stood  on  one  side,  while  a  bleating  sound 
drew  my  attention  to  the  other,  where  a  fatted  lamb  stood 
munching  mulberry-leaves.  Into  this  central  court  the 
four  rooms  of  the  house  opened ;  but,  as  it  is  built  on  a 
hill-side,  the  shop  floor  is  a  step  or  two  below  the  level  of 
the  court,  while  the  room  opposite  to  it  is  raised  consider- 
ably. We  mounted  a  few  steps,  and  my  host  left  me  at 
the  open  door  of  this  upper  chamber,  within  which,  seated 
on  a  mat,  was  a  pretty-looking  woman,  with  a  round,  child- 
ish, cheerful  face.  Perfectly  unembarrassed  by  my  unex- 
pected appearance  she  rose,  and,  after  placing  her  hand  on 
her  breast,  and  then  carrying  it  to  her  forehead,  she  said, 
"  Be  welcome,  and  be  pleased  to  rest  here."  This  was  the 
carver's  wife.  An  elder  woman,  whom  I  afterward  found 
to  be  her  mother,  placed  some  pillows  for  me  on  a  small 
carpet,  and  then  took  a  little  swaddled  figure  from  a  cur- 
tained rocking-cradle  of  red  painted  wood.  She  placed  it 
on  the  skirts  of  my  dress,  saying,  "  Behold  the  gift  of 
God!"  I  took  the  little  creature  in  my  arms.  His  body 
was  stiff  and  unyielding,  so  tightly  was  it  swathed  with 
white  and  purple  linen.  His  hands  and  feet  were  quite 
confined,  and  his  head  was  bound  with  a  small  soft  red 
shawl,  which  passed  under  his  chin  and  across  his  forehead 
in  small  folds;  to  this  a  moldering  relic  of  St.  Joseph,  in 


THE  FIRST-BORN  SON.  63 

a  crystal  case,  was  attached.  His  motlier  wore  a  long  blue 
linen  shirt,  rather  scanty,  and  opening  in  front  to  the  waist, 
a  straight  short  pelisse  or  jacket,  of  crimson  and  white 
striped  silk,  and  a  shawl  girdle.  A  long  thick  white  linen 
vail  hung  over  her  head  and  shoulders,  and  partly  con- 
cealed her  stiff  tarbush  or  cap,  which  was  ornamented  with 
a  row  of  small  gold  coins,  and  a  few  bunches  of  everlasting 
flowers.  The  elder  woman  wore  a  heavy  shirt  or  smock 
of  blue  linen,  the  wide  hanging  open  sleeves  of  which  ex- 
posed a  tattooed  and  braceleted  arm.  Her  long  white  linen 
vail  fell  from  her  head  over  her  shoulders,  in  graceful  folds 
to  her  feet,  which  were  naked.  In  such  a  vail  as  this 
Kuth,  the  young  Moabitish  widow,  who  three  thousand 
years  ago  gleaned  in  the  fertile  fields  of  the  broad  valley 
below,  may  have  carried  away  the  six  measures  of  barley, 
which  her  kinsman,  Boaz,  the  then  mighty  man  of  wealth 
of  Bethlehem-Judah,  had  graciously  given  to  her,  saying, 
"  Bring  the  vail  that  thou  hast  upon  thee,  and  hold  it ;  and 
when  she  held  it,  he  measured  six  measures  of  barley,  and 
laid  it  on  her,  and  she  went  into  the  city."     Ruth  iii,  15. 

I  asked  the  young  mother  her  name ;  she  answered, 
"Miriam  is  my  name;"  but  her  mother  said,  "Not  so,  she 
is  no  longer  Miriam,  but  '  Um  Yousef '  [mother  of  Joseph,] 
for  a  son  is  born  unto  her,  whose  name  is  Joseph." 

It  is  the  universal  custom  in  the  East,  for  a  mother  to 
take  the  name  of  her  first-born  son,  with  the  prefix  of 
"  Cm" — mother — such  as  Urti  Blias,  mother  of  Elias;  or 
Um  UUa,  mother  of  Eli,  whence  perhaps  came  such  names 
as  Fmm2L,  Umilj,  and  Amelia.  On  the  same  principle  the 
father's  name  is  changed  as  soon  as  he  has  a  son,  whose 
name  he  adopts,  with  the  prefix  of  "^6w" — father.  It  is 
a  source  of  great  distress  and  disappointment  to  parents  if 
they  are,  for  want  of  a  son,  obliged  to  retain  their  re- 
spective names. 

The  little  mummy-like  figure  in  my  arms  began  to  show 
signs  of  life,  by  uttering  a  feeble  sound,  in  the  universal 
language  of  babyhood.     The  mother  took  it  from  me,  and 


64  DOMESTIC    LIFE  IN  PALESTINE. 

before  holding  it  to  her  bosom  she  reverently  kissed  a  small 
silken  bag,  embroidered  with  gold,  and  then  pressed  it  to 
her  forehead.  In  answer  to  my  look  of  inquiry,  she  ex- 
plained, partly  by  words,  and  partly  by  signs,  that  the  little 
bag,  which  hung  from  her  neck,  contained  a  piece  of 
crumbling  white  stone,  from  a  grotto  near  to  Bethlehem, 
sanctified  by  the  milk  of  the  Blessed  Virgin,  which  once 
overflowed  there,  and  mothers  eagerly  procure  it,  to  place 
in  their  bosoms  as  a  charm. 

The  room  in  which  we  sat  was  very  simply  furnished. 
It  was  nearly  square.  The  floor  was  of  stone,  and  the 
walls  were  whitewashed.  On  a  broad,  high  shelf  running 
round  three  sides  of  it,  many  articles  of  native  crockery 
and  earthenware,  drinking  cups,  jars,  lamps,  and  metal 
dishes,  were  ranged.  A  mat  of  reeds,  a  carpet  about  as 
large  as  a  hearth-rug,  and  several  pillows  or  cushions  were 
on  the  floor.  A  large  red  box,  with  brass  hinges  and 
ornaments,  served  as  the  wardrobe  of  the  family.  The  red 
cradle,  a  large  metal  basin  and  ewer,  and  a  few  small  coff"ee- 
cups,  on  a  low  stool  or  stand,  of  inlaid  mother-of-pearl  and 
dark  wood,  garnished  the  room.  In  a  deep,  arched  recess, 
opposite  to  the  door,  a  number  of  mattresses  and  wadded 
quilts  were  neatly  piled  up.  In  genuine  Arab  houses  no 
bedsteads  are  used,  and  consequently  no  rooms  are  set  apart 
expressly  for  bedrooms.  Mattresses  are  spread  any  where, 
in  the  various  rooms  and  courts,  or  on  the  terraces,  accord- 
ing to  the  season,  or  to  the  convenience  of  the  moment; 
and  the  beds  and  bedding  are  rolled  up  and  put  away  dur- 
ing the  day,  in  recesses  made  for  them.  Thus,  with  a 
pretty  good  stock  of  mattresses  and  lehaffs,  a  large  number 
of  guests  may  be  entertained  any  night,  at  a  moment's 
notice.  The  room  was  well  ventilated  by  two  large  square 
openings,  near  the  ceiling,  opposite  to  each  other,  one  being 
just  over  the  door,  and  the  other  over  the  recess  for  the 
mattresses.*     I  took  a  cup  of  cofi'ee  and  some  sugar-plums, 

*  This  sort  of  bed  could  easily  have  been  carried  away  by  the  sick  man  of  Caper- 
naum, to  whom  Christ  said— fts  recorded  in  tho  second  chapter  of  Mark — "  Arise, 


THE   FIELD   OF  BOAZ.  66 

and  then  said,  "  Good-bye,"  or  rather,  "  God  be  with  you," 
to  Miriam.  The  elder  woman  led  me  back  across  the 
court,  pointing  to  a  kitchen  on  one  side,  and  to  the  well- 
filled  store-room  on  the  other.  She  drew  her  long  white 
vail  across  the  lower  part  of  her  face,  as  we  entered  the 
workshop.  She  kissed  my  brother's  hands,  and  then  served 
us  with  coffee  and  preserves.  Our  servants  now  arrived 
with  the  horses,  and  we  left  the  workshop  of  the  Bethlehem 
carver.  His  parting  words,  "  The  peace  of  God  be  with 
you,  0  my  protector;"  and  the  answer  which  my  brother 
gave,  "  God's  blessing  be  upon  you  and  upon  your  house," 
reminded  me  of  the  salutations  exchanged  by  Boaz  and 
the  reapers,  long  ago,  in  one  of  the  fields  at  the  foot  of  the 
hill  we  were  descending,  where  we  could  see  oxen  treading 
out  the  corn  on  the  numerous  thrashing-floors. 

"We  approached  the  particular  spot  which  local  tradition 
connects  with  the  names  of  Ruth  and  Boaz;  but  it  was 
enough  for  me  that  they  had  met  somewhere  in  that  broad 
and  fertile  valley,  and  that  the  town  of  Bethlehem,  though 
changed,  was  the  very  town  in  which  Ruth  rejoiced  over 
her  first-born  son  ;  where  the  sorrows  of  Naomi  were  turned 
into  joy,  and  "the  women,  her  neighbors,  rejoiced  with 
her."  We  stood  in  the  midst  of  little  groups  of  men, 
women,  and  children.     Some  were  attending   to  the  mules 

and  take  up  thy  bed  and  go  thy  way  into  thine  house ;"  and  if  the  houses  of 
Capernaum  were  built  like  most  of  the  houses  of  the  present  day  in  the  towns  of 
Palestine,  the  uncovering  of  the  roof  referred  to  in  the  fourth  verse  of  the  same 
chapter,  admits  of  an  easy  explanation.  The  inner  court  of  the  house  is  usually 
more  spacious  than  any  of  the  surrounding  rooms,  and  often  there  are  platforms 
or  benches  of  stone  on  each  side,  spread  with  carpets  and  cushions,  used  as  divans 
during  the  day  and  as  sleeping  places  at  night.  To  such  a  court  Christ  may  have 
retreated  when  the  crowd  increased.  We  may  imagine  him  there,  with  the  won- 
dering people  round  him,  and  the  crafty  and  scornful  scribes  seated  near  on  tho 
divan— all  sheltered  from  the  hot  sun  by  some  kind  of  matting  or  canvas,  sup- 
ported on  a  trellis-work  of  tree-branches  and  planks,  more  or  less  secure.  When 
the  sick  man  was  carried  by  his  friends  to  the  house  where  Christ  was  preaching, 
"  they  could  not  come  nigh  to  him  for  the  press,"  so  they  very  naturally  went  on 
to  the  terrace  or  house-top,  and  "  uncovered  the  roof"  of  the  court,  that  is,  they 
removed  the  matting  which  sheltered  it,  and  then  they  "  broke  up  "  the  trellis- 
work  and  let  down  the  bed  whereon  the  sick  of  the  palsy  lay.  If  an  ordinary 
house-top  had  been  broken  up,  the  wooden  beams,  and  the  masses  of  earth  and 
stone  of  which  it  is  composed,  would  in  falling  have  endangered  the  lives  of  those 
below. 


66  DOMESTIC  LITE   IN  PALESTINE. 

and  oxen  on  the  tKrashing-floor ;  others  were  gleaning  and 
weeding  in  the  neighboring  fields ;  and  the  noisiest  and 
most  active  were  busy  loading  some  kneeling  camels  with 
sacks  of  grain.  Assisted  by  the  contemplation  of  this  busy 
scene,  and  the  remembrance  of  the  incidents  of  the  morn- 
ing, I  could  fully  realize  the  beautiful  story  of  Ruth.  We 
crossed  a  field  of  Indian  corn,  to  pause  for  a  moment  under 
the  shade  of  the  clump  of  trees,  said  to  mark  the  spot 
where  the  shepherds  were  keeping  watch  over  their  flocks 
by  night,  when  the  "  good  tidings  "  were  proclaimed.  The 
place  is  now  called  the  "  Shepherds'  Garden,"  and  is  in  the 
keeping  of  the  monks  of  Bethlehem.  We  rose  on  to  the 
hill-side  again,  and  peeped  into  the  Milk  Grotto,  in  which 
tradition  says  that  Mary  rested  on  the  eve  of  her  flight 
into  Egypt.  It  is  a  cave  in  a  very  white  limestone  rock, 
and  has  been  undergoing  excavation  for  centuries,  on 
account  of  the  before-mentioned  supposed  virtue  of  the 
stone.  Fragments  of  it  are  treasured  in  all  parts  of  Syria, 
and  in  many  countries  of  Europe.  I  have  often  seen  it 
used  successfully.  It  seems  to  me,  that  the  mere  fact  of 
not  being  provided  with  this  relic  will,  in  nervous  subjects, 
occasion  a  deficiency  of  milk,  and  in  such  cases  herbs  and 
other  medicines,  wise  women  and  doctors,  are  resorted  to 
in  vain ;  but  whenever  a  portion  of  this  crumbling  stone  can 
be  procured,  through  the  hands  of  a  priest,  tranquillity  is 
restored,  and  favorable  results  follow.  In  this  way  many 
so-called  miracles  may  be  accounted  for. 

We  rode  on  southward  toward  Urtas,  passing  over  ter- 
raced hills,  where  the  vines,  and  olives,  and  fig-trees  grew 
luxuriantly,  and  little  white  stone  watch-towers  peered  out 
here  and  there,  in  commanding  positions,  from  the  midst 
of  the  thick  foliage.  Near  to  the  winding  bridle-path  we 
saw  now  and  then  a  cottage  or  hut  made  of  rough,  unhewn 
stones,  and  roofed  with  tree-branches,  standing  in  a  garden 
of  cucumbers,  or  tomatoes,  or  a  choice  vineyard.  One 
cf  these  rude  dwellings  was  being  clumsily  repaired  by  a 
group  of  boys,  who  had  been  gathering  stones  and  sticks 


WELL   AT  BETHLEHEM.  67 

for  the  purpose,  and  were  shouting  merrily  over  tlieir  work. 
From  another  of  these  little  huts  there  came  forth,  as  if  by 
magic — for  it  did  not  look  capable  of  containing  them — 
five  young  Bethlehem  girls.  Three  of  them  were  very 
pretty,  brilliant  brunettes  —  the  others  rather  fair.  All 
looked  strong  and  hearty,  with  rich  color  and  large  clear 
eyes.  They  advanced,  half-shyly,  half-daringly,  to  peep  at 
us  as  we  passed.  Their  simply-made,  loose  purple  linen 
dresses,  girdled  below  the  waist  negligently;  their  long 
wide  sleeves,  revealing  bronzed  and  braceleted  arms;  their 
coarse  white  linen  vails  thrown  back  from  their  foreheads 
and  hanging  over  their  shoulders;  and  their  naked  feet, 
were  in  perfect  harmony  with  the  pastoral  scenes  around. 

I  was  very  thirsty,  so  I  called  to  one  of  them,  saying, 
"Water  me  with  water,  0  my  sister!"  Immediately  a  red 
and  black  two-handled  porous  earthenware  vase  of  antique 
form  was  handed  to  me,  and  when  I  had  drank  of  the  cool, 
tasteless  water  it  contained  the  girls  around  said,  "  May 
God  make  it  refreshing  to  you,  0  lady!"  And,  prompted 
by  my  brother,  I  gave  the  customary  answer,  "  God  pre- 
serve you!"  We  inquired  whence  came  the  delicious  water, 
and  they  answered,  "From  the  well  over  against  the  town." 
So  perhaps  we  had  tasted  of  the  very  water  which  David 
sighed  for  when  he  said,  "0,  that  one  would  give  me  of 
the  water  of  the  well  at  Bethlehem,  that  is  at  the  gate!" 
We  gave  the  girls  a  backshish,  and  they  gave  us  their 
blessings  as  we  rode  away. 

The  men  and  boys  whom  we  met,  or  saw  working  in 
the  orchards  above  or  the  plains  below,  wore  nothing  but 
short  coarse  white  shirts,  girdled  with  broad  red  leather 
belts,  ornamented  with  stitching  and  embroidery.  Their 
heads  were  protected  and  adorned  with  bright-red  and 
yellow-striped  shawls,  tastefully  bound  round  their  tasseled 
tarbushes,  the  crowns  of  which  were  bleached  by  the  sun. 
A  few  of  them  wore  red,  pointed,  clumsy-looking,  but  pic- 
turesque boots.  Nature,  however,  provides  admirably  for 
the  shoeless  and  furnishes  a  hardy  and  ever-growing  horny 


68  DOMESTIC  LIFE  IN  PALESTINE. 

case,  which  is  insensible  to  the  sharpness  of  stones  and 
thorns,  and  to  the  roughness  of  the  stubble-field. 

In  the  valley  below  we  saw  broad  fields  of  green  millet 
and  broom-corn — a  strong  grass  about  five  or  six  feet  in 
hight,  of  which  brooms  are  made — but  all  the  wheat  and 
barley  had  been  cut,  and  mules  and  oxen  were  busy  on  the 
thrashing-floors. 

On  the  eastern  side  of  this  valley  the  hills  were  uncul- 
I  tivated,  and  on  the  neglected  terraces  wild  fig-trees,  ever- 
green oaks,  and  thorns  grew.  In  the  breaks  between  these 
hills  we  had  occasional  glimpses  of  the  Dead  Sea,  calm, 
and  blue,  and  bright  in  the  sunshine,  and  the  long  range 
of  Moab  beyond;  its  channeled  and  furrowed  hills  bounded 
the  view,  and  met  the  sky  in  an  almost  level  line. 

The  sun  was  very  powerful,  for  it  was  the  fifth  hour, 
between  ten  and  eleven  o'clock.  We  protected  our  heads 
from  sunstroke  by  winding  round  our  hats  long  strips  of 
muslin,  after  the  fashion  of  turbans,  which  are  the  most 
suitable  head-dresses  for  hot  countries. 

We  left  all  traces  of  cultivated  land  presently,  and  came 
to  hills  which  were  clothed  with  thorns  and  thistles,  wild 
thyme  and  sage,  except  where  the  scanty  soil  had  been 
washed  away  from  the  grayish-blue  slab-like  rocks. 

As  we  descended  into  the  valley  of  Urtas  by  a  pathless 
steep,  we  paused  to  watch  a  long  line  of  camels,  and  a 
considerable  body  of  Bedouins,  who  were  entering  it  from 
a  narrow  wady  just  opposite.  They  were  preceded  by  three 
sturdy-looking  men  mounted  on  horses,  and  carrying  spears 
about  twelve  feet  long,  garnished  with  tufts  of  ostrich 
feathers. 

They  were  evidently  on  their  way  to  seek  some  favorable 
site  for  a  Summer  encampment,  for  they  were  accompanied 
by  a  large  number  of  women  and  children,  who  rode  in 
clumsy  cradles  or  panniers  on  the  foremost  camels,  while 
the  rest  were  laden  with  black  hair  tents  and  bundles  of 
tent-poles,  cooking  utensils,  water  jars,  mats,  and  sacks 
of  provisions.      Goats,  sheep,  and  a  few  donkeys  brought 


GARDENS   OF   SOLOMON.  6^ 

up  the  rear,  pausing  only  to  drink  at  the  little  shallow 
pools  of  water  which  rested  in  natural  and  stony  basins  in 
the  middle  of  the  valley,  bordered  with  fresh  green  grass 
and  flowers.  The  tinkling  of  the  camel  bells,  and  the 
wild,  plaintive,  monotonous  song  of  the  women,  rang  in 
our  ears  long  after  the  primitive  procession  had  passed 
out  of  our  sight.  No  doubt  those  wanderers  pitched  their 
tents  and  made  themselves  at  home  by  sunset,  near  to  some 
stream  or  fountain  of  sweet  water.  Their  dusky  dwellings 
up  they  quickly  rear,  and  build  a  village  in  an  hour's 
space. 

When  we  reached  the  bottom  of  the  valley,  and  had 
passed  a  bold,  projecting,  and  caverned  rock  which  causes 
an  abrupt  turn  in  its  course,  I  was  startled  with  delight 
and  surprise  at  the  picture  before  us — the  loveliest  I  had 
seen  in  the  East. 

No  wonder  that  Biblical  topographists  agree  in  calling 
Urtas  the  site  of  the  gardens  of  Solomon,  and  no  wonder 
if  Solomon  selected  this  valley  for  his  especial  retreat,  and 
made  this  part  of  it  his  pleasure-ground.  It  may  have 
been  more  magnificent  in  his  time,  when  the  now  fallen 
and  shattered  columns  supported  stately  buildings,  and  the 
terraces  were  paved  with  the  now  scattered  tesseras;  but  it 
could  not  have  been  more  beautiful  and  refreshing  even  in 
those  golden  days;  for  here  the  pomegranates  still  yield 
their  pleasant  fruit;  the  vine  flourishes;  the  fig-trees  put 
forth  their  green  figs  around  the  fountain  of  gardens — 
the  well  of  living  water.  Vegetable  marrows,  cucumbers, 
melons,  and  tomatoes  carpet  the  bed  of  the  valley  with 
their  broad  leaves  and  glossy  fruits,  and  fields  of  lentils, 
beans,  potatoes,  millet,  and  patches  of  golden  maize,  blos- 
soming tobacco  and  sesame  in  excellent  order,  proclaim  the 
agricultural  skill  of  the  successor  of  Solomon.  Higher  up 
in  the  valley  is  a  splendid  orchard,  where  peach,  apple,  pear, 
and  plum-trees  flourish  side  by  side  with  the  more  common 
fruits  of  the  country,  watered  by  sparkling  streams  which 
intersect  the  gardens  and  orchards  like  silver  threads. 


70  DOMESTIC  LIFE  IN  PALESTINE. 

We  followed  a  narrow  bridle-path,  raised  a  little  above 
the  bed  of  the  valley.  This  led  us  to  a  solitary  stone 
house,  built  up  against  the  abruptly-rising  hill  on  the 
right.  Here  we  dismounted,  and  were  kindly  welcomed 
by  its  occupants  —  Mr.  Meshullam  and  his  family — the 
present  cultivators  and  shareholders  of  this  favorite  spot. 
They  are  of  Jewish  birth,  but  have  become  Christians, 
and  are  under  British  protection.  We  rested  under  an 
immense  fig-tree,  on  a  divan  of  rocks  and  stones,  built 
round  its  massive  trunk,  and  covered  with  carpets  and 
cushions.  Opposite  to  us  was  a  wide  arched  portal  or 
lewan,  the  approach  to  the  house.  A  wooden  locker,  and 
two  stone  benches  or  raised  seats,  covered  with  mats,  occu- 
pied its  three  sides.  It  is  used  as  a  Summer  sitting-room. 
Above  the  rude  door  leading  to  the  inner  rooms  were  a 
number  of  badger-skins  hanging  to  dry,  and  some  foxes' 
tails,  and  tusks  of  wild  boars — trophies  of  the  courage  and 
skill  of  the  young  Meshullams.  Bunches  of  Indian  corn, 
and  some  large  dried  gourds  of  a  golden  tint  and  cup-like 
form,  were  suspended  from  the  arched  roof,  with  a  few 
captured  birds  in  cages,  and  a  large  lantern. 

The  room  within  was  just  as  simple.  We  dined  there 
with  Mr.  Meshullam  and  his  family,  and  Mr.  Henry  Went- 
worth  Monk,  who  for  two  years  had  lived  there,  almost  a 
hermit's  life,  his  only  constant  companion  a  Greek  Testa- 
ment, and  his  chief  intercourse  with  the  world  the  Times 
newspaper.  He  spent  nearly  all  his  time  in  the  open  air, 
entering  the  house  only  to  sleep  and  to  eat.  His  lifelike 
portrait,  by  Holman  Hunt,  appeared  in  the  Royal  Academy 
Exhibition  in  1860. 

Our  hostess,  Mrs.  Meshullam,  an  Italian  Jewess,  told  me 
she  could  only  give  us  an  Italian  peasant's  dinner,  as  she 
had  not  expected  us  that  day;  but  the  savory  soup  of 
lentils  and  other  vegetables,  the  dishes  of  fried  beans,  the 
potato  fritters,  omelettes,  and  fruit,  needed  no  apology. 

After  dinner,  Mr.  Meshullam's  sons  kindly  led  us  up  the 
rocky  hill-side  to  the  ruins  of  Urtas.     Scattered  blocks  of 


RESERVOIR.  71 

stone,  fallen  columns,  foundations  of  houses,  and  broken 
walls  alone  remain.  A  few  wild  Arabs  of  the  T^amari 
tribe  haunt  these  ruins  and  the  caverns  in  the  limestone 
hills  which  rise  behind  them,  attracted  by  the  spring  which 
gushes  impetuously  from  a  rock  overgrown  with  mosses 
and  ferns,  and  overshadowed  with  fine  trees.  The  water 
falls  in  a  large  body,  splashing  and  bubbling,  into  a  square 
reservoir,  where  a  group  of  little  Bedouins  stood  enjoying 
shower-baths.  A  few  men  were  bathing  their  feet  and 
washing  their  hands,  in  preparation  for  prayer. 

From  this  basin  the  water  escapes  into  a  lower  and 
large  reservoir,  where  a  number  of  Urtas  women  and  girls 
were  washing  their  white  and  purple  linen  shirts,  and  their 
tattered  vails,  in  primitive  style,  folding  them,  and  placing 
them  on  smooth  slabs,  just  under  the  surface  of  the  water 
at  the  margin  of  the  pool,  and  then  beating  them  with  flat 
stones,  which  they  held  in  their  hands.  Little  naked, 
bronzed  children  were  luxuriating  there,  and  wriggling 
about  like  tadpoles.  The  girls  called  to  me  to  come  down 
into  the  reservoir,  to  bathe  my  feet.  The  rough  stone 
walls  inclosing  these  pools  were  tapestried  with  ferns, 
cresses,  delicate  creepers,  and  liverwort. 

We  followed  the  course  of  the  stream,  and,  with  it, 
descended  into  the  valley  between  the  low  stone  walls 
which  inclose  the  plantations  of  olive,  fig-trees,  lemons, 
and  pomegranates.  We  had  to  make  our  way  cautiously, 
now  on  one  side,  and  then  on  the  other,  of  the  rocky  bed 
of  the  swiftly-flowing  stream. 

The  pleasant  sound  of  the  rushing  waters — the  songs  of 
the  goldfinches — the  sight  of  the  blossoming  and  fruitful 
trees  in  the  garden  below,  inclosed  by  steep  hills,  covered 
with  aromatic  herbs — the  breezy  air,  laden  with  the  helio- 
trope-like scent  of  the  fig-trees,  and  tasting  of  the  wild 
flowers  and  herbs  around — delighted  us.  King  Solomon 
could  scarcely  have  enjoyed  such  scenes  more  completely, 
when  he,  long  ago,  went  into  the  garden  and  invited  his 
beloved  to  come  and  eat  the  pleasant  fruits.     "Awake,  O 


72  DOMESTIC  LIFE  IN  PALESTINE. 

north  wind!  and  come,  thou  south!  blow  upon  my  garden, 
that  the  spices  thereof  may  flow  out." 

The  stream  led  us  to  the  bottom  of  the  valley,  and  then 
took  its  way  rather  more  gently  in  a  narrow  bed,  bordered 
with  grass  and  brook-lime  speedwell,  close  to  the  hill- 
side, which  was  festooned  with  masses  of  maiden-hair  and 
mosses  of  the  most  vivid  green.  We  walked  on  a  raised 
stone  path,  or  viaduct,  across  the  gardens,  and  passed 
through  a  field  of  tall  broom-corn,  every  stem  of  which 
was  crowned  with  a  plumy  tuft,  and  wreathed  with  con- 
volvulus, pink  and  white.  We  saw  a  number  of  gardeners 
at  work,  in  the  employ  of  Mr.  Meshullam.  He  has  a  shop 
in  Jerusalem,  exclusively  for  the  sale  of  the  fruit  and 
vegetables  from  this  spot.  He  has  introduced  many  fruit- 
trees  and  vegetables  which  had  never  before  been  cultivated 
in  the  East;  and  they  thrive  well,  especially  the  seeds  and 
slips  from  America.  Were  it  not  for  the  vigorous  protec- 
tion afforded  to  him  by  Mr.  Finn,  however,  he  could  not 
resist  the  encroachments  of  the  Arab  tribes  in  the  district, 
and  the  fruitful  valley  would  soon  be  a  desert. 

After  taking  leave  of  the  Meshullams,  we  rode  up  the 
valley  to  see  the  three  great  pools,  one  above  the  other, 
which  collect  the  springs  of  the  neighborhood.  The 
largest  and  lowest  is  582  feet  long,  and  50  feet  deep;  the 
next  is  423  feet  long,  and  39  feet  deep ;  the  upper  one  is 
380  feet  long,  and  25  feet  deep.  Clear  blue  water  half 
filled  these  tanks — a  precious  reserve  for  the  dry  season. 
The  bottom  of  the  upper  pool  is  higher  than  the  top  of  the 
next,  and  so  with  the  second  and  third.  They  are  partly 
formed  of  excavations  in  the  rock,  and  partly  of  immense 
hewn  stones.  These  are  called  Solomon's  Pools;  and  he 
perhaps  thought  of  them,  and  of  his  gardens  at  Urtas, 
when  he  said,  "I  made  me  gardens  and  orchards,  and 
I  planted  trees  in  them  of  all  kinds  of  fruits ;  I  made 
me  pools  of  water,  to  water  therewith  the  wood  that 
bringeth  forth  trees."  No  doubt  the  fountain  and  streams 
which  supply  these  pools  found  their  way  down  the  valley 


,      RETURN  TO  JERUSALEM.  78 

of  Urtas  to  th^Dead  Sea,  and  wasted  their  sweet  waters  in 
the  bitter  lake,  till  a  Solomon's  hand  restrained  them,  and 
led  them  into  these  great  reservoirs,  and  built  the  famous 
duct  round  hill-sides,  over  plains,  and  across  valleys,  to 
convey  the  water  to  the  Temple  on  Mount  Moriah.  Even 
now  the  fountain  opposite  to  the  Mosque-el-Aksa  is  thus 
supplied.  Sometimes,  it  is  true,  the  supply  is  scanty  there, 
owing  to  the  careless  keeping  of  the  aqueduct;  for  men 
water  their  horses  at  the  various  openings,  and  otherwise 
waste  the  water,  before  it  can  reach  the  city.  Every  new 
Pasha  does  his  best  to  enforce  strong  measures  to  prevent 
this  abuse,  but  generally  gives  up  the  attempt  after  a  short 
time. 

We  rode  homeward,  following,  as  nearly  as  we  could,  the 
course  of  the  aqueduct.  At  every  opening  we  saw  the 
running  water  framed  in  a  mass  of  delicate  maiden-hair 
and  moss;  at  several  of  these  places  women  were,  contrary 
to  the  law,  washing  their  clothes,  and  filling  their  water- 
jars.  It  strikes  me,  that  there  may  have  been  a  chariot- 
road  by  the  side  of  this  aqueduct,  in  ancient  times,  and  it 
may  have  served  as  a  sort  of  coping  or  parapet  to  it.  No 
chariot-road  is  to  be  found  there  now,  and  in  some  places 
the  path  is  difficult  even  for  a  mule ;  yet,  when  we  consider 
what  damage  the  torrents  of  one  Winter  will  effect,  we  may 
wonder  that  the  torrents  of  centuries  have  not  proved  even 
more  destructive  than  they  have. 

Roads  in  this  land  must  have  required  peculiar  attention 
and  care.  In  the  Talmud  it  is  said  that,  before  the  going 
up  of  the  tribes,  three  times  a  year,  to  Jerusalem,  the 
roads  leading  to  it  were  prepared.  "  Prepare  the  way  of 
the  people ;  cast  up  the  highway,  gather  out  the  stones, 
take  up  the  stumbling-block  out  of  the  way  of  my  people." 
I  can  imagine  the  kind  of  preparation  required  in  obedience 
to  this  command ;  how  the  rocks,  and  stones,  and  debris  of 
the  hills,  washed  down  by  the  Winter  rains,  were  cleared 
away ;  how  the  fallen  tree-trunks  were  gathered  up  and 
supported  j  and  the  broken  edges  of  the  road  and  the  holes 

7 


74  DOMESTIC  LIFE  IN  PALESTINE. 

formed  by  the  bursting  of  springs  were  blocked  up ;  and  I 
see,  in  fancy,  the  chariot-roads  winding  round  terraced 
hills,  and  through  vineyards,  pleasant  gardens,  and  pasture- 
land  in  the  plains,  as  they  did  in  the  days  when  such  kings 
as  Solomon  the  magnificent  ruled,  or  when  Uzziah  the  lover 
of  husbandry  reigned.     (See  2  Chron.  xxvi,  10,  11.) 

The  sun  had  gone  down  in  red,  and  gold,  and  purple 
splendor  when  we  quitted  the  tortuous  course  of  the  aque- 
duct. We  lost  the  cheerful  sound  of  the  running  stream, 
whose  waters  were  flowing  freely  toward  Jerusalem ;  and 
we  took  a  more  direct  route,  turning  toward  the  Convent 
of  Mar  Elias.  We  mounted  the  hill,  and  then  galloped 
quickly  over  the  plain  of  Rephaim,  meeting  long  strings 
of  unladen  camels  gently  jolting  along,  and  numbers  of 
Bethlehem  peasants  and  women,  returning  homeward,  with 
their  empty  baskets  poised  on  their  heads.  They  had  been 
selling  fruit  and  vegetables  in  Jerusalem. 

It  was  dusk  when  we  reached  Talibiyeh.  We  found  that 
some  poor  Jews  had  been  employed  there  throughout  the 
day,  to  make  a  sort  of  veranda  or  shelter  of  reeds  in  front 
of  the  little  stone  house,  and  it  proved  a  very  pleasant  re- 
treat. The  reeds  used  were  from  the  banks  of  the  Jordan. 
They  are  about  an  inch  and  a  half  or  two  inches  in  diam- 
eter, and  twelve  or  thirteen  feet  in  bight,  with  a  plumy 
tuft  at  the  top,  like  a  miniature  palm-tree.  It  is  very  likely 
that  this  kind  of  reed  is  referred  to  in  the  history  of  the 
Crucifixion,  where  it  is  said,  "  And  straightway  one  of  them 
ran  and  took  a  sponge  and  filled  it  with  vinegar,  and  put  it 
on  a  reed,  and  gave  him  to  drink."     Matt,  xxvii,  48. 

Thoroughly  tired,  but  well  pleased,  I  went  to  my  tent ; 
and,  according  to  the  advice  of  the  Armenian  nurse,  bathed 
my  feet  and  arms  with  milk  and  vinegar,  to  allay  the  irri- 
tation caused  by  the  musketoes,  which  had  tormented  me 
in  the  convent  at  Bethlehem.  It  proved  an  effectual  rem- 
edy, and  I  recommend  travelers  to  try  it. 


FROM  JERUSALEM  TO  HAIFA.  75 


CHAPTER lY 

FROM  JERUSALEM  TO  HAIFA. 

It  was  our  intention  to  remain  only  a  short  time  in 
Jerusalem,  but  my  brother  had  been  detained  on  consular 
business,  and  was  appointed  to  attend  Kamil  Pasha  on  an 
expedition  to  Hebron,  fo  quell  a  serious  insurrection  there. 

I  was  left  in  the  care  of  my  good  friends  at  the  Talibi- 
yeh,  where  I  enjoyed  excellent  opportunities  for  improving 
myself  in  Arabic,  and  gleaning  information  about  the  peo- 
ple of  Palestine.  Every  day  brought  some  new  delight. 
I  visited  all  the  places  of  interest  in  the  neighborhood, 
sketching  and  making  notes,  and  had  the  privilege  of  ac- 
companying Sir  Moses  and  Lady  Montefiore  when  they 
explored  the  Moslem  mosques  and  shrines  on  Mount 
Moriah. 

Mr.  W.  Holman  Hunt  was  then  busy  in  his  studio  on 
Mount  Zion,  and  there  I  watched  the  progress  of  his  won- 
derful picture  of  the  "Meeting  in  the  Temple,"  and  with 
delight  looked  through  his  portfolios  and  sketch-books. 
On  the  21st  of  August  I  went  to  Hebron,  and  after  spend- 
ing a  few  days  with  my  brother  at  the  Pasha's  camp,  I 
returned  to  the  Talibiyeh ;  but  of  these  pleasures  I  will  not 
pause  to  speak  in  detail  here. 

On  the  9th  of  September,  at  sunrise,  a  shower  of  rain 
fell,  the  first  I  had  seen  in  Palestine.  It  lasted  only  half 
an  hour,  and  seemed  quite  local.  Low  down  among  the 
hills  rainbows,  one  within  another,  spanned  the  valleys, 
and  produced  a  most  beautiful  effect.  Soon  after  the  rain 
was  over,  a  cloud  of  birds  appeared  coming  from  the  north, 
their  strange  snapping  cries  sounding  louder  and  louder  as 


76  DOMESTIC  LIFE  IN  PALESTINE. 

they  approached.  They  were  bee-catchers,  bright-colored 
birds  of  the  swallow  kind.  A  strong  north  wind  soon  car- 
ried the  rain  clouds  and  the  birds  far  away,  and  cooled  the 
air,  which  had  been  very  sultry. 

On  September  11th,  Miss  Creasy — who  had  long  been 
resident  in  Jerusalem — took  me  to  see  Philip's  Fountain, 
which  is  about  two  hours  south-west  by  west  of  Jerusalem. 
We  started  early,  with  one  kawass,  and  rode  over  the  rocky 
hills  to  the  Convent  of  the  Cross  before  the  dew  had  dis- 
appeared. We  met  large  companies  of  "  fellahin  " — peasant 
women — flocking  to  the  city  with  fruit  and  vegetables. 
Most  of  them  wore  blue  linen  shirts,  white  cotton  vails, 
which  fell  over  their  shoulders,  and  crimson  girdles  fastened 
very  low.  The  foremost  were  carrying  a  great  variety  of 
cucumbers  and  vegetable  marrows,  and  the  fruit  of  the 
dark  egg-plant,  which  is  pear-shaped,  of  a  deep  violet-red 
color,  and  very  glossy.  A  group  of  girls,  who  balanced 
on  their  heads  baskets  of  grapes  from  the  Greek  gardens, 
made  a  beautiful  picture ;  trailing  branches  and  tendrils  of 
the  vine  were  hanging  over  their  shoulders.  We  went 
down  a  narrow  valley,  newly  planted  with  mulberries  and 
vines  by  the  enterprising  monks  of  the  Greek  convent.  On 
the  summit  of  a  steep  hill,  on  our  right,  we  saw  the  pic- 
turesque little  village  of  Malihah,  and  large  kilns  for  pre- 
paring charcoal  were  burning  on  the  rock  ledges  or  terraces 
below  it. 

We  entered  the  Wady-el-Werd,  or  Valley  of  Roses — well 
named ;  its  broad  bed,  for  above  a  mile,  is  like  a  thicket  of 
rose-bushes,  cultivated  for  making  rose-water  and  conserves. 
Beyond  this  garden,  which  attracted  thousands  of  birds  to 
feast  on  its  crimson  berries  or  hips,  we  found  fig-orchards, 
blackberry-bushes,  and  walnut-trees.  On  our  left  hand  we 
saw  the  remains  of  an  ancient  building,  large  hewn  stones, 
excavations  in  the  native  rock,  a  few  fallen  columns,  and  a 
small  stone  fountain  called  Ain  Yalo,  or  the  Spring  of 
Ajalon.  We  were  following  the  course  of  the  ancient  road 
"which  goeth  down  from  Jerusalem  to  Gaza."     Long  ago, 


Philip's  fountain.  77 

Queen  Candace's  eunuch  traversed  it,  riding  in  his  chariot ; 
but  the  Komans  kept  "  the  way  "  in  repair  then  ;  no  chariot 
could  pass  it  now.  It  is  little  better  than  a  track  for  mules, 
and  runs  along  a  sort  of  terrace  half-way  up  the  hill  on  the 
left-hand  side  of  the  valley.  Rugged  rock  ledges  were 
above  and  below  us,  and  a  few  flocks  were  feeding  on  the 
scanty  herbage  and  thorns,  but  down  in  the  bed  of  the  vale 
there  were  thrashing-floors  and  stubble  fields.  About  a 
mile  beyond  Ain  Yalo  we  came  to  Ain  Haniyeh,  a  fine 
spring  of  pure  water,  commonly  called  Philip's  Fountain. 
Two  pilasters,  with  richly-carved  Corinthian  capitals,  flank 
a  semicircular  apse,  formed  of  very  large,  carefully-hewn 
stones.  From  a  deep,  arched  recess  or  niche,  in  the  middle 
of  this  apse,  a  large  body  of  water  gushes  and  falls  with 
great  force  into  a  small  basin,  which  overflows  into  a  stone 
reservoir  below,  and  then  forms  a  narrow  stream  which 
finds  its  way  into  the  valley.  I  climbed  over  immense 
blocks  of  stone,  assisted  by  a  shepherd  boy,  and  gathered 
some  of  the  maiden-hair  and  mosses  which  festooned  the 
arched  mouth  of  the  fountain.  Indications  of  a  much 
larger  apse  can  be  traced  just  beyond ;  and  exactly  opposite 
the  fountain,  at  about  forty  paces  from  it,  there  is  a  frag- 
ment of  the  shaft  of  a  column  nearly  six  feet  in  diameter, 
but  only  about  five  feet  high.  A  few  shafts  of  smaller 
columns  are  to  be  seen  in  a  neighboring  field.  The  vil- 
lagers around  carry  away  the  hewn  stones  which  are  found 
here  to  build  their  little  watch-towers,  or  to  repair  their 
houses.  Local  tradition  says  that  this  is  the  very  fountain 
to  which  the  eunuch  referred  when  he  said  to  his  teacher, 
Philip,  "  See,  here  is  water !  What  doth  hinder  me  to  be 
baptized?"  Some  boys  and  girls,  wilder  looking  than  the 
shaggy  goats  which  they  led  to  drink  at  the  fountain, 
crowded  around  me  as  I  sat  on  the  great  column,  sketching 
the  scene  before  me.  My  horse,  in  the  mean  time,  less 
obedient  than  the  chariot  of  the  eunuch,  had  broken  away 
from  the  block  of  stone  to  which  he  was  tethered,  and  was 
running  at  full  speed  into   the  valley.      Loud   cries   and 


78  DOMESTIC    LIFE  IN   PALESTINE. 

shouts  from  the  boys  brought,  from  all  directions,  volun- 
teers to  pursue  the  runaway,  and,  after  some  little  time,  the 
frightened  animal  was  caught,  in  a  circle  of  the  noisiest, 
wildest-looking  little  fellows  I  ever  saw,  and  to  whom  the 
few  piasters  which  I  distributed  was  a  fortune. 

We  returned  by  a  rather  diflferent  route,  and  passed 
another  fountain,  more  simple  than  the  others,  but  very 
picturesque,  and  formed  chiefly  of  blocks  of  unhewn  stone. 
Women  were  washing  their  linen  shirts  and  vails  in  the 
reservoir,  and  a  number  of  rough,  desperate-looking  men 
were  lounging  idly  round  it.  They  looked  over  my  paper 
while  I  sketched  the  fountain  and  a  few  figures.  One  of 
them  said,  "If  we  were  to  fetch  all  the  men  of  the  valley, 
and  all  the  men  of  the  hills,  they  could  not  do  that." 
They  seemed,  by  their  remarks,  to  fancy  that  drawing  was 
a  sense  or  faculty  peculiar  to  the  Franks.  They  were 
clamorous  for  backshish,  and  followed  us  for  some  dis- 
tance, muttering,  grumbling,  and  disputing  among  them- 
selves. After  they  had  given  up  the  pursuit,  I  found  that 
I  had  lost  my  pocket-book,  containing  papers  of  value.  I 
galloped  back  to  Philip's  Fountain,  though  the  rays  of 
the  sun  were  very  powerful.  I  explained  my  loss  to  *Jie 
shepherd  boys,  now  my  firm  allies,  then  I  rode  back  to 
the  other  fountain,  where  I  found  the  group  of  men  who 
had  followed  us,  standing  as  if  in  consultation.  I  felt 
certain  that  they  had  my  book.  I  told  them  I  came  from 
the  English  consulate,  and  asked  them  to  help  me  in  my 
search.  They  so  positively  declared  that  my  book  was 
not  lost  there,  that  I  felt  more  convinced  than  ever  that 
they  had  found  it.  Presently  I  tried  the  effect  of  a  small 
piece  of  gold,  which  I  offered  to  the  finder.  In  a  moment 
one  of  the  men  drew  my  book  from  his  girdle,  and  rather 
hesitatingly  placed  it  in  my  hands.  I  feared  he  might 
repent,  so  I  immediately  gave  it  to  the  kawass  to  take 
charge  of,  and  we  very  thankfully  rode  away.  These  men 
were  all  fully  armed,  and  dressed  in  coarse  scanty  clothing. 
They  looked  as  if  a  trifle  would  excite  them  to  mischief 


KATRINE   AND   HER  DELUSIONS.  79 

and  to  deeds  of  daring.  When  we  were  far  enough  from 
them,  we  sat  down  and  took  our  lunch,  which  we  had 
provided  before  setting  out.  We  rested  under  a  walnut- 
tree  during  the  hour  of  noon,  and  did  not  reach  the 
TalibiyehL  till  three  o'clock,  where  we  were  anxiously 
awaited,  for  the  Gaza  road  is  not  considered  a  very  safe 
one.  In  the  arched  recess  at  the  back  of  the  house,  figs 
from  Urtas,  strung  together,  were  hanging  in  the  sun  to 
dry.  One  of  the  servants,  sitting  in  the  shade,  was  busy 
stripping  ofi"  the  flag-like  envelopes  of  large  ripe  ears  of 
Indian  corn,  or  maize.  She  told  me  that  she  was  going 
to  make  a  mattress  of  the  dried  husks  for  one  of  the 
men-servants;  and  added  that  poor  people,  who  can  not 
afford  to  buy  cotton  wool,  make  their  beds  of  the  outer 
skins  of  onions,  thoroughly  dried  and  sweetened  by  ex- 
posure to  the  sun,  and  sewed  up  in  coarse  linen  cases. 

On  the  following  day,  my  brother  returned  from  Hebron, 
and  was  at  last  free  to  leave  Jerusalem  and  start  for  his 
vice-consulate  at  Haifa.  A  few  days  were  spent  in  making 
preparations  for  the  journey.  I  engaged  Katrine,  a  widow 
of  Bethlehem,  as  my  attendant.  She  was  highly  recom- 
mended to  me  as  a  faithful  and  affectionate  woman,  but 
with  the  serious  drawback  that  she  was  subject  to  fits  of 
mental  derangement.  In  the  year  1834,  when  her  native 
town  was  the  scene  of  rebellion,  her  husband  and  little 
sons  were  murdered  in  her  presence  in  their  beds,  and 
alarm  and  despair  disordered  her  mind.*  (Who  can  cal- 
culate how  much  harm  of  this  nature  will  be  the  result 
of  the  late  massacres  in  the  Lebanon  and  Damascus,  and 
how  many  weakened  intellects  will  be  transmitted  to  suc- 
ceeding generations?  Men  survive  the  sight  of  open  war- 
fare on  the  battle-field;  but  who  can  wonder  that  women 
become  mad  with  rage  and  terror,  who  see  their  sons  and 
fathers  murdered  in  their  homes?) 

In  a  day  or  two  Katrine  was  quite  at  home  with  me. 
She  had  known  my  brother  for  years,  and  fancied  that  he 

*See  note,  page  60. 


80  DOMESTIC  LIFE  IN  PALESTINE. 

and  I  were  her  own  children.  She  often  told  me  curious 
stories  of  our  childhood,  fictions  of  her  imagination.  This 
delusion,  however,  made  her  happy,  and  caused  her  to  be 
a  most  devoted  servant  to  us. 

On  the  14th  of  September  I  was  roused  before  sunrise  by 
the  tinkling  sounds  of  mule  bells,  which  reminded  me  that 
our  journey  was  planned  for  that  day.  All  was  bustle  and 
animation  at  the  camp.  Groups  of  Arab  servants  were 
seated  among  the  rocks.  Bags  and  baggage  were  strewed 
around.  Tents  and  tent  poles  were  being  removed  and 
packed,  and  mules  and  muleteers  stood  waiting  for  orders. 
Mr.  Finn  was  about  to  make  a  tour  with  his  niece  and  a 
friend,  and  had  arranged  to  travel  with  us  as  far  as  Yafa. 

After  a  great  many  delays,  all  the  attendants  were  in 
readiness  by  eleven  o'clock;  but  it  happened  that  my 
brother,  who  had  gone  into  Jerusalem  early  on  business, 
was  detained,  and  consequently  kept  a  prisoner  there,  for 
it  was  Friday,  the  Moslem  Sabbath,  and  the  city  gates  are 
always  closed  on  that  day  during  the  hours  of  morning 
prayer,  and  we  knew,  therefore,  that  he  could  not  on  any 
consideration  be  released  till  noon.  (This  custom  is  rigidly 
observed,  owing  to  a  prophecy  which  declares  that  the  Holy 
City  will  be  invaded  and  conquered  at  Sabbath  prayer- 
time.)  So  the  Consul  with  his  party  started,  leaving  us 
to  overtake  him  at  Yafa;  and  I  spent  one  more  evening 
with  Mrs.  Finn  and  the  little  ones  at  the  Talibiyeh.  We 
had  nothing  to  detain  us  the  next  day,  and  at  half-past 
three  I  rose  by  lantern  and  starlight,  gathered  a  branch 
from  the  olive-tree  above  the  tent  which  had  been  my 
resting-place  for  ten  weeks,  breakfasted  with  Mrs.  Finn, 
and  rode  away,  well  mounted,  just  as  the  first  gleams  of 
light  appeared  in  the  eastern  sky. 

A  Moslem  kawass  led  the  way,  and  my  soi-disant  mother, 
Katrine,  a  Latin  Christian,  closely  vailed  and  wrapped  in 
a  red  Arab  clock,  sat,  a  la  cavalier,  on  the  broad  pack- 
saddle  of  a  nimble  little  donkey,  and  two  laden  mules,  in 
the  care  of  a  muleteer,  followed.     Although  our  attendants 


KUBAB.  81 

were  of  conflicting  creeds,  they  fraternized  very  well  on 
the  way. 

We  did  not  pause  till  we  came  to  the  Fountain  of  Birds, 
where  a  peasant  boy  brought  us  fine  grapes,  and  helped  us 
to  give  our  animals  water.  The  orchards  around  were  now 
in  their  full  beauty,  bright  with  pomegranate  fruit  and 
blossom.  The  rich  green  fig-trees,  wet  with  dew,  smelt  like 
heliotropes,  and  were  garlanded  and  interlaced  with  richly- 
laden  vines.  Little  birds  were  rustling  the  silvery  leaves 
of  the  olive-trees,  and  they  now  and  then  swarmed  forth 
in  cheerful  chirruping  flight. 

At  eight  o'clock  we  reached  Abu  Grh6sh,  and  while  we 
waited  for  Katrine  and  the  muleteer — who  lagged  behind — 
I  sketched  the  old  church,  and  then  hastened  onward.  At 
ten  we  rested  and  lunched  under  a  tree  by  a  well-side  near 
to  Latrone,  and  the'  kawass  contrived  to  make  us  some 
cofi"ee.  I  was  astonished  to  find  that  I  had  traveled  through 
the  hill-country  of  Judea,  without  fear  and  without  fatigue, 
by  the  same  road  which  a  short  time  before  had  appeared 
to  me  so  full  of  danger  and  difficulty.  The  hills  seemed 
to  me  to  have  been  made  low,  and  the  "rough  places 
plain."  "When  we  entered  the  level  country,  the  sun  was 
shaded  every  now  and  then  by  quickly-moving  clouds, 
and  a  breeze  sprang  up  from  the  west,  pleasantly  fanning 
our  faces. 

We  cantered  over  the  plain  till  we  reached  a  village 
called  Kubab,  a  poor,  straggling  place,  with  a  few  gardens 
fenced  with  yellow-blossoming  cactus  hedges.  We  paused 
by  a  well,  in  a  sort  of  farm-yard,  and  a  lame  girl  handed 
us  some  water  in  a  red  jar.  She  made  curious  signs  and 
gestures,  and  we  soon  saw  that  she  was  deaf  and  dumb. 
We  gave  her  a  backshish,  and  she  limped  away  well 
pleased.  A  boy  followed  us,  noisily  demanding  money  as 
we  rode  on,  but  we  did  not  give  him  any  thing;  so  he  ran 
back  to  the  poor  lame  girl,  threw  her  down,  and  snatched 
her  treasure  from  her.  She  rose  with  difficulty,  and  with 
silent  and  impotent  rage  threw  handfuls  of  dust  after  him, 


82  DOMESTIC  LIFE  IN  PALESTINE. 

and  when  he  was  out  of  sight,  she  began  tearing  her 
scanty  clothing.  We  turned  back  and  tried  to  console  her, 
but  our  words  were  useless ;  however,  some  sweet  chocolate 
cakes  were  more  effectual.  We  left  her  stealthily  eating 
them,  and  went  on  our  way,  thinking  how  sad  her  life 
must  be. 

Before  noon  we  entered  Ramleh,  leaving  our  servants 
far  behind.  We  rode  under  the  tall  palm-trees,  now  laden 
with  glossy  red  and  golden  fruit,  hanging  in  clusters  on 
orange-colored  stalks.  Strings  of  camels  and  laden  donkeys 
crowded  the  dirty,  dusty  streets,  and  with  difficulty  we  made 
our  way  to  the  house  of  an  Arab  friend.  My  brother  was 
received  with  kisses  and  embraces  by  the  sons  of  the  house, 
and  I  was  led  by  an  Abyssinian  slave — a  eunuch — to  his 
widowed  mistress,  a  superior-looking  woman,  dressed  in 
black  silk  garments,  embroidered  with  gold  thread.  She 
said,  "Welcome,  my  daughter j"  and,  after  giving  me  some 
lemonade,  took  me  to  a  pleasant  chamber  opening  on  to  a 
terrace  covered  with  pots  of  blossoming  pinks  and  roses. 
She  called  the  slave,  and  he  immediately  spread  a  mattress 
for  me  on  the  floor.  Then  she  took  off  my  hat  and  habit, 
and  told  me  to  "Kest  in  peace;"  and,  sitting  by  my  side 
on  a  soft-cushioned  carpet,  she  gently  fanned  me  to  keep 
away  the  flies  and  musketoes.  When  I  awoke,  after  an 
hour  or  two  of  refreshing  sleep,  I  found  that  my  hostess 
had  gone,  and  the  slave  was  kneeling  by  my  side^  fanning 
me  with  a  little  flag  made  of  a  green  split  palm-frond, 
nicely  plaited.  His  dark,  polished  face  and  large  eyes, 
contrasting  with  his  white  turban,  white  cotton  dress,  and 
crimson  silk  girdle,  rather  startled  me  before  I  quite  re- 
membered where  I  was.  I  heard  afterward  that  he  was  a 
favorite  and  confidential  slave,  who  had  belonged  for  many 
years  to  this  family. 

He  poured  rose-water  over  my  hands,  and  led  me  to  a 
court,  where  a  genuine  Arab  meal  was  prepared  for  us. 
It  consisted  of  boiled  wheat,  dressed  in  butter  and  mixed 
with  minced  meat;    some   fine   broiled  fish,  in  a  bed  of 


bedouin's  song  to  his  camel.  83 

very  sweet  stewed  apricots  and  rice;*  and  baked  fowls, 
garnished  with  tomatoes,  filled  with  rice  and  shreds  of 
meat.  ^  dessert  of  grapes,  dates,  and  sweetened  starch, 
stuck  with  bleached  almonds,  followed.  After  cofi"ee  and 
pipes  we  called  our  servants  together,  and  at  about  five 
o'clock  we  mounted  and  rode  toward  Yafa.  The  sun  was 
shining  directly  in  our  faces,  and  we  watched  it  gradually 
going  down  behind  the  low  coast  hills  which  hid  from  our 
sight  the  Mediterranean  Sea.  The  crescent  moon  rose 
bright  and  clear,  throwing  our  shadows  in  long  dark  lines 
on  the  sandy  road  before  us. 

We  saw  a  little  company  of  Bedouin  Arabs  sitting  on 
the  wayside  feasting.  As  soon  as  we  had  passed  they  rose 
up  and  started  into  a  run,  leaping  and  shouting  vocifer- 
ously, and  as  we  and  the  kawass  slackened  our  pace  to 
join  the  servants  who  were  behind  they  passed  us,  running 
and  dancing  along,  snatching  off  each  other's  white  skull- 
caps, flinging  them  in  the  air,  flourishing  their  sticks, 
throwing  handkerchiefs  at  one  another,  screaming  and 
singing.  Their  heads  were  shaved  except  just  at  the 
crown,  where  the  hair  was  allowed  to  grow  very  long, 
and  was  plaited.  The  plait  is  generally  twisted  up,  and 
quite  concealed  under  skull-caps,  tarbushes,  or  kefias — 
that  is,  shawl  head-dresses.  The  Arab  costumes  are 
familiar  to  most  of  my  readers  from  the  pictures  of 
them  in  our  school-books,  and  I  need  not  further  par- 
ticularize them  here. 

We  soon  found  that  these  wild-looking  men  were  quite 
harmless.  They  had  only  lingered  on  the  wayside  to 
enjoy  a  heartier  meal  than  usual,  and  had  allowed  their 
camels  to  go  on  leisurely  with  two  or  three  camel-drivers, 
and  they  were  running  to  overtake  them,  which  they  very 
soon  did.  They  then  pursued  their  way  so  slowly  that  we 
quickly  passed  them.  Some  of  them  were  mounted  on  the 
unwieldy-looking    animals,    and    their   songs   were   already 

*  This  melange,  which  ia  very  common,  always  reminded  me  of  the  "broiled 
fish"  and  the  "honeycomb"  spoken  of  in  Luke  xxiv,  42. 


84  DOMESTIC  LIFE  IN  PALESTINE. 

subduea  to  harmonize  with  their  monotonous  swinging 
pace,  and  chimed  softly  and  plaintively  with  the  tinkling 
of  camel  bells — thus: 

"  Dear  unto  me  as  the  sight  of  my  eyes 

Art  thou,  0  my  camel ! 
Precious  to  me  as  the  breath  of  my  life 

Art  thou,  0  my  camel  I 
Sweet  to  my  ears  is  the  sound 

Of  thy  tinkling  bells,  0  my  camel  I 
And  sweet  to  thy  listening  ears 

Is  the  sound  of  my  evening  song. 

Sometimes  these  wanderers  pass  several  days  without 
taking  substantial  food;  but,  to  make  up  for  their  absti- 
nence, they  eat  voraciously  and  "make  merry"  when  they 
have  the  opportunity.  It  was  dark  in  the  bridle-path  be- 
tween the  Yafa  Gardens,  but  the  large  and  many  glowing 
watch-fires  within  the  inclosures  showed  that  the  abundance 
of  ripe  fruit  was  well  guarded. 

"We  entered  the  gate  of  the  town,  where  crowds  of  people 
were  lounging.  The  broadest  bazar  was  bright  with  lamps 
and  lanterns;  but  we  soon  merged  one  by  one  into  dark, 
narrow,  crooked  streets  of  stairs,  and  *  I  was  directed  to 
follow  the  kawass  closely  and  carefully.  His  large,  full, 
white  Turkish  trowsers  seemed  to  move  before  me  by  some 
mysterious  power,  without  support  or  suspension;  for  the 
black  horse  which  he  rode  was  quite  invisible  in  the  dark- 
ness, and  his  red  fez  and  embroidered  jacket  could  not  be 
seen,  only  now  and  then  two  shining  eyes  turned  round  to 
see  if  I  were  safe.  I  followed  my  ghostlike  leader  cau- 
tiously till  we  reached  the  British  Consulate  down  by  the 
seaside,  where  we  were  welcomed  by  our  friends,  Dr.  and 
Mrs.  Kayat;  and  Mr.  Finn,  wBo  had  only  arrived  an  hour 
earlier,  soon  came  to  meet  us.  He  had  slept  at  Ramleh  on 
the  previous  night,  and  was  surprised  we  had  made  the 
journey  from  Jerusalem  so  easily  in  one  day.  Fire-works 
from  a  ship  at  anchor  attracted  us  to  the  oriel  window 
which  overlooks  the  sea,  and  we  sat  for  a  long  time  watch- 
ing the  waves  as  they  rolled  toward  us,  crested  with  white 


SUNDAY  AT  YAFA.  85 

foam,  and  with  lines  of  phosphoric  light  flashing  from  be- 
neath them,  only  extinguished  by  the  breaking  of  each 
successive  wave  on  the  rocks. 

The  next  day,  Sunday,  we  went  to  the  Rev.  Mr.  Kruse's 
house,  and,  in  company  with  Mr.  Finn  and  his  party,  and 
Dr.  Kayat  and  his  family,  we  heard  Dr.  Bowen — the  late 
lamented  Bishop  of  Sierra  Leone — preach  a  most  simple, 
earnest,  and  appropriate  sermon.  A  few  Arab  children 
belonging  to  the  missionary  school,  and  Mrs.  Krus6  and 
her  family,  with  the  Rev.  Henry  Reichart,  of  Cairo,  com- 
pleted the  little  congregation.  Some  Arab  ladies  of  the 
neighboring  house  watched  us  the  whole  time  through  the 
open  window,  and  seemed  greatly  amused.  The  hymns 
were  sung  with  much  energy  in  Arabic,  and  the  liturgy — 
read  in  English — was  responded  to  by  the  little  Arab 
scholars  with  vehemence  and  clearness.  I  spent  the  re- 
mainder of  the  day  with  Mr.  Finn  and  his  party,  at  the 
new  and  well-built  house  of  an  Arab  friend.  We  sat  on  a 
sheltered  terrace,  sweet  with  pinks  and  jasmine,  overlooking 
the  terraced  house-tops  and  the  sparkling  sea.  Down  on 
our  left  was  the  southern  wall  of  the  town,  and  the  deep 
dry  moat.  Beyond  it  was  a  sloping,  stony  plain,  where 
horsemen  were  galloping  about  and  displaying  their  skill 
in  the  use  of  spear  and  musket.  Further  still  was  the  large 
open  cemetery,  with  a  cupola,  supported  on  arches,  in  the 
center ;  children  were  playing,  and  turbaned  smokers  were 
resting,  under  its  shade.  A  garden  of  figs,  palms,  and 
tamarisks,  on  a  gentle  declivity,  bordered  the  sandy  margin 
of  the  sea  between  us  and  the  quarantine  station,  and  the 
white  sheets  or  wimples  of  groups  of  women  could  be  dis- 
tinguished among  the  trees.  Drifted  sand-hills  bounded 
the  view.  The  sea,  calm  and  brightly  blue,  broke  gently 
along  the  belt  of  rocks,  fringing  them  with  foam.  We 
watched  the  setting  of  the  sun,  the  hills  in  the  south 
grew  rosy,  violet,  and  gray.  The  western  sky  was  covered 
with  dark  slate-colored  clouds,  edged  with  gold.  The 
sunset-gun  was  fired,  and  we  were  led   by  our  host  to  a 


86  DOMESTIC  LIFE  IN  PALESTINE. 

covered  court  on  the  house-top  to  dine,  by  lantern  light. 
For  dessert,  among  other  fruits,  we  had  a  dish  of  large 
ruby-colored  pomegranate  seeds  moistened  with  wine,  and 
sprinkled  with  powdered  sugar;  bleached  almonds  formed 
the  border  of  this  tempting-looking  dish. 

The  next  day  I  was  sitting  in  the  oriel  window  at  the 
British  Consulate,  with  the  Rev.  Dr.  Bo  wen,  while  Dr. 
Kayat  was  engaged  with  an  English  captain  and  a  number 
of  Arabs  in  the  lower  part  of  the  room.  Black  clouds  came 
traveling  quickly  from  the  west,  over  the  lead-colored  sea. 
Dr.  Bowen  observed,  in  the  words  of  Christ,  "  When  ye  see 
a  cloud  rise  out  of  the  west,  straightway  ye  say.  There 
Cometh  a  shower,  and  so  it  is."  He  had  scarcely  uttered 
the  words  when  the  clouds  spread  and  fell  in  a  tremendous 
torrent.  The  sea  swelled,  and  rolled  heavily  to  the  shore. 
The  ships  looked  as  if  they  would  break  away  from  their 
anchors,  and  loud  peals  of  thunder  made  the  casemented 
recess  in  which  we  sat  tremble  violently.  The  captain 
hastened  away,  fearful  for  the  fate  of  his  struggling  ship 
off  such  a  rocky  coast.  When  the  rain  ceased,  and  the 
sun  shone  again,  I  rode  out  with  Dr.  Bowen  to  visit  Mr. 
Jones,  an  American  missionary,  who  lived  in  the  midst  of 
a  beautiful  garden,  east  of  the  town.  He  had  done  a  great 
deal  of  good  in  teaching  the  Arab  gardeners  and  agricul- 
turists habits  of  order  and  method,  but  he  finds  them  very 
slow  learners. 

At  sunrise  the  next  day  rain  fell  in  torrents,  and  did 
not  clear  off  till  noon,  after  which  I  sat  in  my  favorite 
window  corner  with  Nasif  Giamal,  Mrs.  Kayat's  brother. 
We  saw  just  below  us,  on  the  rudely-constructed  "parade," 
a  crowd  of  men  and  children,  assembled  round  a  fantas- 
tically-dressed man  exhibiting  a  goat,  which  had  been 
tutored  to  perform  some  curious  tricks.  It  stood  with  its 
four  feet  close  together  on  the  top  of  a  very  long  pole,  and 
allowed  the  man  to  lift  it  up  and  carry  it  round  and  round 
within  the  circle ;  then  the  goat  was  perched  on  four  sticks, 
and  again   carried  about.     A  little  band  of  music — fifes, 


CIKCUMCISION.  87 

drums,  and  tambourines — called  together  the  people  from 
all  parts  of  the  town  to  witness  this  performance.  The  goat 
danced  and  balanced  himself  obediently  and  perfectly,  in 
very  unnatural-looking  postures,  as  if  thoroughly  under- 
standing the  .words  and  commands  of  his  master.  The 
men  who  watched  the  antics  of  the  goat  looked  as  grave 
and  serious  as  if  they  were  attending  a  philosophical  or 
scientific  lecture. 

The  assembled  crowd  had  to  make  way  presently  for  a 
long  procession,  preceded  by  horsemen  carrying  long  spears, 
and  firing  guns.  Two  little  boys,  gayly  dressed  and  decked 
with  flowers,  rode  one  behind  the  other  on  a-  white  horse. 
Two  large  books,  carried  on  embroidered  cushions,  were 
borne  by  two  attendants.  "Women  closely  vailed  walked  by 
the  side  of  the  boys,  singing  wildly,  and  making  a  peculiar 
ringing  noise  in  the  throat,  not  unlike  the  neighing  of 
horses  made  slightly  musical  by  modulation.  Nasif,  who 
can  speak  English,  told  me  the  object  of  the  procession, 
saying,  "The  boys  are  Moslems;  they  have  suffered  an 
infliction  not  observed  by  the  Christians;  the  Jews  have 
it,  and  also  the  Moslems."  This  explained  to  me  that  the 
children  had  been  circumcised,  and  were  now  being  con- 
ducted round  the  town  in  triumph. 

My  brother  made  arrangements  with  the  owner  of  a 
little  Arab  boat  to  be  prepared  to  take  us  to  Haifa,  as  soon 
as  the  south  wind  rose.  Two  monks  of  Mount  Carmel 
begged  to  accompany  us.  We  made  our  plans  so  as  to  be 
ready  at  a  minute's  notice,  and  spent  the  evening  with  Sit 
Leah.  She  had  quite  recovered,  and  proudly  showed  me 
her  little  Selim.  I  found  that  every  one  addressed  her 
and  spoke  of  her  as  "Um  Selim,"  or  mother  of  Selim,  and 
the  father  was  called  "Abu  Selim." 

On  Wednesday,  September  19th,  I  was  roused  before 
sunrise,  and  informed  that  the  Eeis — or  Arab  captain — 
had  sent  for  us,  as  the  wind  was  favorable.  With  the 
two  monks  and  Nasif  G.  we  quickly  went  down  to  the 
quay.     In   the  mean  time  the  wind  had  shifted,  and  the 


09  DOMESTIC   LIFE   IN   PALESTINE. 

Reis  could  not  undertake  to  steer  against  it;  but  he 
added,  "It  will  veer  round  to  the  south  again  by  mid- 
night, and  then  we  shall  reach  Haifa  in  eight  or  ten 
hours."  It  was  still  very  early.  We  strolled  leisurely 
through  the  town.  The  people  were  just  beginning  to 
stir.  The  shutters  of  the  shops  in  the  bazars  were  being 
lifted  up — they  are  like  flap-doors  attached  by  rude  hinges 
to  the  beams  above  the  shop-fronts,  and  when  opened  and 
propped  up,  they  form  excellent  shades,  which  are  easily 
dropped  down  and  secured  at  night. 

On  my  return  to  the  Consulate,  I  found  two  of  the 
women-servants  making  bread,  sitting  on  the  ground  at 
a  low  circular  wooden  board.  One  of  them  moistened 
some  flour  with  water,  another  added  salt,  and  a  small 
piece  of  leavened  dough — to  "  leaven  the  whole  lump  " — 
and  then  kneaded  it  vigorously  in  turn  with  her  com- 
panion. It  was  left  to  rise,  and  then  the  two  eldest 
daughters  of  Dr.  Kayat  divided  it  into  portions,  rolled 
them  into  little  round  loaves,  which  were  carried  away 
to  the  oven  on  large  round  trays  made  of  reeds,  bound 
together  with  strong  grass. 

We  prepared  ourselves  for  the  journey,  and  then  went  to 
rest  early,  without  undressing.  At  midnight  the  Reis  sent 
for  us,  and  immediately  we  went  out  into  the  darkness, 
with  Nasif  and  three  or  four  lantern-bearers.  I  noticed  a 
number  of  men,  wrapped  in  lehaffs,  sleeping  on  low  stone 
platforms,  or  by  the  side  of  kneeling  camels,  in  the  streets 
near  the  quay.  The  Mutsellim,  or  governor,  was  parading 
the  place.  Nasif  told  me  that  he  did  so  at  irregular 
intervals,  sometimes  in  disguise,  so  as  to  see  the  state  of 
the  town  at  night,  and  to  ascertain,  by  personal  observa- 
tion, whether  the  guards  did  their  duty.  We  met  the 
two  Carmelite  monks  on  the  dark  wharf,  and  the  great 
water-gate  was  opened  for  us.  I  was  somehow  dropped 
gently  into  a  little  rowing-boat  far  down  in  the  darkness 
below,  where  I  was  taken  charge  of  by  two  brawny  boat- 
men     After  much  shouting  and  jolting  we  were  all  huddled 


ON  THE  VOYAGE.  89 

together,  and  skimmed  over  the  water  to  the  sailing-boat, 
which  awaited  us  outside  the  rocky  barrier.  I  found  it 
was  divided  into  three  parts — the  central  portion  being 
like  an  uncovered  hold,  four  feet  deep  and  eight  feet 
square.  The  decks  fore  and  aft  were  incumbered  with  the 
ship's  tackle,  and  crowded  with  sailors,  who  were  singing 
lustily.  The  hold,  lighted  by  two  lanterns,  was  matted  and 
set  apart  for  passengers  and  luggage.  Our  portmanteaus 
and  carpet-bags  served  us  for  a  couch,  and  the  monks  sat 
on  their  saddle-bags,  wrapped  in  their  comfortable-looking 
hooded  robes.  Poor  Katrine,  who  had  never  been  on  the 
sea  before,  was  very  much  alarmed.  She  rolled  herself  up 
in  her  cloak,  stretched  herself  full  length  by  my  side,  and 
was  happily  soon  fast  asleep.  Our  kawass  smoked  his  pipe 
in  company  with  the  Reis  above,  and  an  Italian,  who  had 
smuggled  himself  and  his  baggage  on  board,  in  the  hurry 
and  darkness,  kept  aloof  with  the  sailors.  The  sky  was 
bright  with  stars ;  the  south  wind  was  strong,  and  filled  the 
sails,  and  by  fits  and  starts  1  dozed  till  dawn  of  day. 
Then  I  roused  myself,  and  watched  the  little  group  around 
me,  the  hooded  monks  sleeping  soundly,  my  brother  at 
my  feet,  leaning  against  a  hamper,  and  Katrine  so  envel- 
oped that  I  could  not  distinguish  her  head  from  her  heels. 
The  favorable  wind  had  ceased,  and  the  sailors  were 
busy  taking  in  sail.  By  the  time  the  sun  appeared  above 
the  low  coast  hills  the  wind  had  shifted  to  the  west,  and 
we  were  in  danger  of  being  driven  on  the  rocks.  It  then 
suddenly  veered  to  the  north,  and  blew  so  violently  that 
the  Reis  was  obliged  to  cast  anchor,  and  we  were  tossed  on 
a  heavy  sea,  near  to  a  desolate  coast,  where  there  was  no 
possibility  of  landing.  By  nine  o'clock  the  sun  was  very 
powerful.  An  awning  made  of  the  now  useless  sails  was 
thrown  over  the  hold.  "We  found  our  quarters  far  from 
comfortable,  but  we  were  determined  to  make  the  best  of 
them.  By  noon  the  heat  was  intense  and  suffocating  down 
in  the  hold,  so  I  climbed  on  to  the  deck,  and  sat  on  a  coil 
of  rope,  clinging  to  the  mast.     The  strong  wind  and  the 


90  DOMESTIC  LIFE  IN  PALESTINE. 

sea  spray  revived  me.  The  coast,  which  was  every  now 
and  then  concealed  by  the  high  waves,  was  a  range  of 
drifted  sand-hills,  traversed  by  flocks  of  goats  feeding  on 
the  scanty  patches  of  pasture.  Not  a  human  habitation, 
not  even  a  human  being  was  visible,  and  not  a  boat  or  ship 
was  seen  all  day.  In  the  afternoon  the  wind  ceased,  but 
the  ship  rocked  lazily  from  the  effect  of  the  sea-swell, 
which  had  not  yet  subsided. 

My  brother  read  St.  Paul's  voyage  to  me  as  it  is  recorded 
in  the  27th  of  Acts.  It  seemed  more  interesting  than  ever. 
We  were  not  far  from  Cesarea,  the  port  from  which  Paul 
embarked ;  and  he  was  tossed  about  by  contrary  winds,  in 
this  sea  for  many  days.  It  must  have  been  about  the  same 
time  of  the  year,  too,  during  the  equinoctial  gales,  when,  as 
he  said,  "  sailing  was  dangerous."  It  is  distinctly  explained 
that  it  was  after  the  great  Fast  of  the  Atonement,  which  is 
held  on  the  tenth  day  of  the  month  of  Tisri,  and  corresponds 
with  the  latter  part  of  our  month  of  September. 

At  sunset  "the  south  wind  blew  softly."  The  sails  were 
soon  set,  and  in  better  spirits  we  sat  down  to  our  evening 
meal,  and  shared  our  chickens  and  preserved  soup  with  the 
monks,  who  added  their  eggs,  cheese,  and  cognac.  We 
passed  a  dreamy,  restless  night,  "sailing  slowly,"  and  in 
the  morning  were  nearly  opposite  Tantura.  The  wind  had 
changed  to  north-east,  so  my  brother  insisted  on  landing 
to  pursue  our  journey  on  shore.  We  tacked  about,  put 
out  to  sea,  and  then  allowed  the  strong  wind  to  drive  us 
toward  the  picturesque  coast.  Little  islands  of  rock  and 
mounds  of  ancient  masonry  stood  out  before  it,  beaten  by 
the  waves.  With  some  maneuvering  the  boat  was  brought 
safely  to  the  beach,  where  there  were  plenty  of  Tantura 
men  to  meet  us,  and  carry  us  through  the  surf  to  the 
smooth  yellow  sands.  I  was  delighted  to  find  myself  on 
firm  land  again;  and  I  shall  always  remember  St.  Paul's 
advice  to  the  centurion,  and  vote  against  sailing  in  the 
Levant  in  the  Autumn. 

The  custom-house  officer  came  to  meet  us;  and,  followed 


RESTING  ON  THE   WAY.  91 

by  troops  of  men  and  boys,  we  approached  the  little  town, 
which  comprises  about  thirty  or  fgrty  rudely-built  houses, 
made  of  irregularly-piled  blocks  of  hewn  stone,  bits  of 
broken  columns,  and  masses  of  mud  or  clay.  The  custom- 
house officer,  Abu  Habib,  guided  us  to  his  house,  which 
consisted  of  one  low,  large,  square  room,  lined  with  clay, 
and  roofed  with  tree  branches  blackened  with  smoke.  One 
half  of  the  ceiling  was  concealed  by  matting,  and  the  other 
half  was  picturesque  with  pendent  branches.  Small  holes 
served  as  windows,  and  the  roughly-made  door  was  a  port- 
able one.  A  mattress  spread  on  the  floor  was  used  as  a 
divan.  Jars  of  earthenware  and  metal  saucepans  stood 
against  tbe  wall.  A  cooking-place  was  built  in  one  corner, 
made  of  large,  finely-beveled,  ancient  stones  and  burned 
clay.  Baskets  of  coarse  salt  from  the  sea-shore  were  near 
to  it.  Habib,  the  son  of  our  host,  prepared  coffee  for  us. 
In  our  presence  he  roasted  the  berries,  and  then  pounded 
them  in  a  stone  mortar.  A  large  box,  like  a  muniment 
chest,  with  ornamental  lock  and  hinges  of  wrought  iron, 
stood  near  the  door,  and  I  perched  myself  on  it  to  be  as 
far  away  as  I  could  from  the  mud  floor,  on  which  I  could 
distinctly  see  a  numerous  assembly  of  large  fleas  dancing 
and  hopping  about.  The  monks,  with  truly  monastic  virtue, 
did  not  seem  to  mind  them.  Gaunt-looking  women,  hiding 
their  faces  with  tattered  white  cotton  vails,  peeped  at  us, 
and  dirty  but  pretty  children  came  crowding  round. 

Katrine  made  a  tour  of  the  town,  and  then  took  me  to 
the  house  which  she  considered  the  neatest  and  cleanest, 
where  I  rested  with  her  and  refreshed  myself.  The  women 
who  welcomed  me  were  dressed  in  tight  jackets  and  full 
trowsers,  made  of  washed-out  Manchester  prints,  patched 
all  over  without  regard  to  color  or  pattern.  Their  heads 
were  covered  with  mundils — squares  of  colored  muslin; 
their  necks  adorned  with  coins,  and  their  wrists  with  twisted 
silver  bracelets.  They  were  exceedingly  amused  with  my 
little  traveling  dressing-case.  They  told  me  they  had  never 
seen  a  hair-brush  before.     They  unplait  their  long  henna- 


92  DOMESTIC  LIFE    IN    PALESTINE. 

stained  hair  about  once  a  week  only,  and  occasionally  clean 
it  with  fuller's  earth,  which  is  found  near,  and  use  small- 
tooth  combs  of  bone  or  wood. 

After  some  delay  animals  were  procured;  fortunately  we 
had  our  saddles  with  us.  We  left  our  heavy  luggage  in 
the  care  of  the  Reis,  and  at  two,  P.  M.,  we  mounted  and 
took  leave  of  Tantura.  We  made  a  rather  ludicrous  pro- 
cession. The  kawass,  on  a  shaggy  mule,  took  charge  of 
our  carpet-bags,  and  led  the  way.  The  two  monks  were 
mounted  on  donkeys,  so  small  that  their  sandaled  feet  and 
heavy  robes  nearly  touched  the  ground.  My  brother  rode 
on  an  old  white  horse,  whose  head  was  garnished  with  red 
trappings  ornamented  with  shells.  I  was  put  on  a  little 
pony  who  had  lost  his  mane  and  tail,  and  who  could  not 
understand  a  side-saddle,  but  persisted  in  turning  round 
and  round  to  investigate  the  mystery;  and  Katrine,  on 
a  stubborn  donkey,  had  great  difficulty  in  keeping  up 
with  us. 

We  rode  northward  along  the  shore,  which  was  strewed 
with  blocks  of  marble  and  hewn  stones.  Women  and 
children  were  busy  collecting  in  large  baskets  the  coarse 
incrusted  salt,  which  settles  in  the  natural  hollows  and 
artificial  basins  of  the  rocks  on  the  beach  below.  Large 
herds  of  cattle  and  goats,  the  chief  wealth  of  Tantura, 
grazed  on  the  plain  on  our  right  hand  just  above  us,  which 
was  overgrown  with  thorns,  thistles,  dwarf  mimosa,  and 
low  brushwood. 

A  little  beyond  Tantiira  stands  the  ancient  Dora,  or  Dor, 
on  a  rugged  promontory,  with  ruined  walls  all  round  it,  at 
the  edge  of  the  cliiF.  From  its  center  rises  what  appeared 
to  me  at  first  to  be  a  lofty  tower  or  castle ;  but  on  ap- 
proaching it  I  found  it  was  only  the  narrow  southern  wall 
of  some  long  since  fallen  building.  It  stands  about  thirty 
feet  high.  This  place  is  now  quite  abandoned,  as  the  walls 
are  tottering  and  the  clifis  are  giving  way.  The  stones  are 
gradually  being  removed  to  build  up  Tantura.  Opposite 
to  these  ruins,  the  plain  was  concealed  from  us  by  a  low 


A  WEDDING  PARTY.  93 

ridge  of  rocky  hills,  running  close  to  the  sandy  shore,  which 
is  here  and  there  enlivened  by  a  group  of  palm-trees. 

We  kept  close  to  the  sea  till  we  came,  in  about  one  hour 
and  a  half,  to  Athlite,  or  Castellum  Pelegrinura,  a  curious 
motley  pile  of  ruins  standing  out  on  a  rocky  headland. 
The  foundation  stones  are  so  massive,  that  they  have 
resisted  the  storms  of  centuries,  and  tell  of  a  time  anterior 
to  the  Romans,  who  no  doubt  erected  the  fortress,  built 
the  walls,  and  fashioned  the  columns  which  are  now  falling 
to  decay.  The  crusaders,  too,  have  left  some  of  their 
handiwork  here — the  pointed  arches  and  the  ruins  of  a 
Christian  church  still  speak  of  them.  Within  the  walls 
of  the  church,  and  under  the  shadow  of  the  fortress,  mod- 
ern houses  are  rudely  built,  and  inhabited  by  a  poor  Moslem 
population.  A  group  of  women  were  resting  by  a  well  of 
sculptured  stone,  just  outside  the  walls.  Opposite  to  this 
interesting  place  we  found  a  narrow  defile  cut  through  the 
rocks,  leading  eastward  direct  from  the  shore  to  the  plain. 
Deep  ruts,  for  chariot  wheels,  were  cut  in  the  road,  which 
was  just  wide  enough  for  two  horsemen  to  ride  freely 
abreast.  The  white  limestone  walls  rise  abruptly  on  each 
side,  garnished  with  patches  of  fragrant  herbs  and  amber- 
colored  lichen.  Lintels  at  each  end  of  this  passage  show 
that  formerly  it  was  protected  by  gates,  and  ruins  of  strong 
fortifications  surmount  it. 

We  passed  out  of  this  curious  defile  into  the  fertile  but 
not  very  extensively-cultivated  plain,  or  "  Vale  of  Dor," 
between  the  mountain  range  of  Carmel  and  the  rocky  coast- 
hills  under  whose  pleasant  shade  we  pursued  our  way. 
We  could  see  that  the  two  chains  of  hills  met  at  an  acure 
angle  far  away  in  the  north.  Now  and  then,  natural  fis- 
sures in  the  rocks,  or  little  valleys  made  fertile  by  Winter 
torrents,  revealed  to  us  the  sun  and  the  sea. 

We  stopped  to  water  our  animals  at  a  little  spring, 
called  Ain  Dustrei,  which  forms  a  tiny  lake,  and  then 
finds  its  way  between  the  hills  to  the  shore.  A  group  of 
goatherds,  with  reed  pipes,   were  assembled  round  a  clay 


94  DOMESTIC  LIFE  IN  PALESTINE. 

trough,  where  their  flocks  of  goats  were  crowding  to  drink. 
The  vegetation  by  this  stream  and  fountain  was  wild  and 
luxuriant.  Oleanders,  lupins,  tall  grass,  and  the  arbutus 
abounded.  The  monks  soon  pointed  out,  with  delight,  the 
white  convent  of  Mar  Elias  on  the  headland  of  Carmel. 

Pleasant  sounds  of  voices,  songs,  and  bells,  and  laughter 
reached  us,  and  we  saw  an  animated  little  party  approach- 
ing, mounted  on  camels,  whose  nodding  heads  and  necks 
were  decorated  with  beads,  shells,  crimson  tassels,  and 
strings  of  little  tinkling  bells.  I  paused  by  the  wayside  to 
watch  them,  as  they  slowly  passed.  There  were  thirteen 
camels  strung  together,  each  carrying  two  or  three  women 
and  children,  all  in  gala  dresses,  made  chiefly  of  soft  crim- 
son silk,  with  white  Vandyked  stripes  on  it.  On  their 
heads,  they  wore  scarfs  or  vails,  of  various  colors  and  ma- 
terials— silk,  muslin,  and  wool — folded  across  their  fore- 
heads, just  meeting  the  eyebrows,  then  thrown  over  the 
back  of  the  head,  and  brought  forward  again  to  cover  their 
faces,  all  but  the  shining  eyes.  The  fringed  or  bordered 
ends  were  allowed  to  fall  gracefully  over  the  shoulders. 
Some  of  the  women  had  slipped  these  vails,  or  wimples, 
down  below  their  lips,  so  as  to  join  in  the  chorus  of  the 
songs  improvised  by  the  two  professional  singing-women 
who  accompanied  them.  My  brother  could  perceive  that  it 
was  a  bridal  party,  by  these  songs,  which  very  much  resem- 
bled in  style  the  "  Song  of  Songs  which  is  Solomon's."  A 
number  of*  men  were  in  attendance  on  foot,  forming  a 
picturesque  body-guard  to  the  exalted  women.  They  were 
people  of  one  of  the  villages  of  the  plain  or  vale  of  Dor, 
and  had  been  to  Haifa,  to  purchase  dresses,  trinkets,  and 
furniture  for  two  approaching  weddings,  in  a  family  of 
some  local  importance.  They  were  scarcely  out  of  hearing 
when  we  met  another  noisy  group,  consisting  of  men  and 
boys,  with  a  few  camels,  mules,  and  donkeys,  clumsily  laden 
with  the  purchases  for  the  weddings — cooking  utensils, 
baskets  of  rice,  reed  mats,  bales  of  goods,  and  two  red 
wooden  boxes,  ornamented  with  gilt  hinges  and  strap-work. 


THE   KHARUB  TREE.  95 

The  largest  camel  carried,  high  on  his  back,  two  little 
wooden  cradles,  painted  blue,  red,  and  yellow;  one  for 
each  of  the  brides.  This  piece  of  furniture  is  regarded 
in  the  East  as  the  most  important  and  necessary  item  of 
a  trousseau;  and  she  is  an  unhappy  wife  who  does  not 
soon  see  rocking  in  the  gaudy  cradle  an  infant  son,  whose 
name  she  may  take,  and  through  whom  she  may  become 
honored  among  women.* 

As  we  proceeded  northward,  the  plain  was  so  much 
more  narrow,  that  we  could  distinguish  the  deep  caverns 
and  excavations  in  the  limestone  hills  opposite,  which 
have,  in  turn,  served  as  places  of  refuge  or  retreat  for 
prophets,  saints,  and  anchorites,  banditti  or  robbers,  and 
beasts  of  prey. 

The  village  of  Tireh  was  pointed  out  to  me,  surrounded 
by  cultivated  fields  and  orchards.  Groups  of  palm-trees 
grew  here  and  there,  and  the  hill-sides  were  clothed  with 
dwarf  oak,  wild  fig,  and  locust  trees.  The  fruit  of  the 
locust,  when  ripe,  is  like  a  large  crooked  bean-pod,  brown 
and  glossy,  filled  with  large  seeds.  It  is  so  nutritious,  that 
the  children  of  the  poor  live  entirely  on  it,  during  the 
season,  requiring  no  other  food,  for  it  contains  all  the 
necessary  elements  for  the  support  of  life — starch,  sugar, 
oil,  etc.,  in  proper  proportion.  I  found  it,  when  new, 
rather  too  sweet  to  suit  my  taste.  Children  seemed  to 
enjoy  it,  and  they  thrive  on  it,  eating  the  shell  as  well  as 
the  seeds.  When  this  fruit  is  stored,  it  becomes  somewhat 
dry,  and  less  sweet,  but  on  being  soaked  in  honey,  it  is 
like  new  fruit.  The  Arabs  all  like  sweet  food,  and  of 
many  a  man  of  Judea  and  Galilee,  as  well  as  of  John  the 
Baptist,  it  might  be  said,  "jETis  meat  [for  a  season]  was 
locusts  and  wild  honey ^^ 

Just  before  sunset,  we  reached  the  foot  of  the  headland 
which  forms  the  southern  boundary  of  the  bay  of  Akka. 
On  its  summits  the  convent  stands.     It  was  too  late,  and 

«  See  page  63. 

•j-The  Arabic  name  for  the  locust-tree  is  "Kharub,"  and  the  beans  are  commonly 
called  "St.  John's  bread." 


96  DOMESTIC  LIFE  IN  PALESTINE. 

we  were  all  too  tired,  to  go  round  to  the  usual  ascent  on 
the  other  side;  so  we  urged  our  animals  up  the  steep  and 
pathless  rocks,  here  and  there  overgrown  with  brushwood, 
thorns,  and  thistles,  fit  only  to  be  traversed  by  goats  and 
conies. 

The  monks,  who  had  been  our  guests  on  the  way,  now 
acted  as  our  guides  and  hosts,  for  they  were  on  convent 
ground.  They  warned  us  to  grasp  the  manes  of  our  tired 
steeds  firmly,  as  they  mounted  the  steep  ledges;  and  I 
now  found  the  disadvantage  of  being  on  a  pony  without 
a  mane.  After  about  ten  minutes  difficult  riding,  we 
reached  a  cultivated  garden,  on  a  plateau,  in  front  of  the 
large,  well-built  convent.  Fr^re  Charles,  an  old  friend  of 
my  brother,  came  out  to  meet  and  welcome  us,  and  kissed 
him  and  the  two  monks  again  and  again. 

We  were  about  six  hundred  feet  above  the  plain,  with  a 
magnificent  scene  before  us.  The  sun  was  just  going  down, 
and  the  Great  Sea  was  flooded  with  crimson  light.  The 
bay  of  Akka  and  the  plain  surrounded  by  the  hills  of 
Galilee  were  on  our  right.  The  ruins  of  an  ancient  port 
and  fortress  could  be  seen  on  the  level  strip  of  land  below 
us;  and  at  about  a  mile  to  the  right  of  it  stood  the  little 
town  of  Haifa — very  interesting  to  me,  for  it  was  there  I 
was  to  make  a  home  with  my  brother,  at  Her  Britannic 
Majesty's  Vice-Consulate. 

We  spent  a  pleasant  evening  with  the  good  monks.  It 
was  Friday;  they  did  not  let  us  fast,  but  sat  by  us,  in 
pleasant  chat,  while  we  enjoyed  fish,  flesh,  and  fowl  from 
their  excellent  cuisine.  After  dinner  we  went  to  the  divan 
or  drawing-room,  and  I  looked  through  the  convent  album, 
which  is  quite  a  polyglot,  containing  the  autographs  of 
many  great  and  celebrated  characters — testimonies  to  the 
kindness  and  hospitality  always  met  with  here. 

Three  or  four  examples  of  misplaced  zeal  and  intoler- 
ance have  called  forth  the  satire,  wit,  and  displeasure  of 
less  prejudiced  pilgrims.  Fr^re  Charles  pointed  out  to  me 
a  few  pages  crossed,  recrossed,  and  interlined  by  indignant 


HAIFA.  97 

commentators.  He  remarked  that  they  always  seemed  to 
be  particularly  interesting  to  English  people,  provoking 
laughter  and  anger  by  turns.  The  pages  had  evidently 
been  translated  to  him. 

We  gratefully  rested  that  night  in  clean,  comfortable, 
neatly-furnished  rooms,  and  on  French  musketo-curtained 
beds.  In  the  morning  I  heard  the  swell  of  the  organ  and 
the  chanting  of  the  monks  at  an  early  hour.  A  servant 
brought  cafe  au  lait  to  my  room  at  seven,  and  told  me  my 
brother  had  already  gone  down  to  Haifa.  Fr^re  Charles 
and  our  fellow-travelers  conducted  me  to  the  chapel,  which 
has  a  finely-proportioned  dome  and  marble  floor,  and  a  few 
sculptured  figures  in  alabaster. 

The  ground-floor  of  the  convent  is  occupied  by  the  offices, 
kitchens,  pharmacy,  and  surgery.  A  large  portion  of  it  is 
set  apart  for  a  place  of  shelter  for  poor  pilgrims.  The 
first-floor,  consisting  of  a  fine  suite  of  lofty  rooms,  is  nicely 
furnished,  and  prepared  for  travelers,  who  are  expected  to 
pay  first-class  hotel  prices;  but  no  direct  charge  is  made. 
The  second-floor  is  reached  by  a  narrow  staircase,  at  the 
foot  of  which  an  inscription,  in  Italian  and  French,  pro- 
claims that  females  are  not  admitted.  The  monks  told 
me  that  there  was  an  excellent  library  of  English,  Latin, 
French,  and  Italian  books  up  there,  as  well  as  a  large 
refectory  and  a  great  number  of  cells;  and  the  terraced 
roof  made  a  fine  promenade  for  the  recluses. 

Presently  a  kawass  came,  bringing  a  horse  for  me,  and 
an  invitation  to  spend  the  day  with  Mr.  Finn,  whose  tents 
were  pitched  just  outside  Haifa;  so  with  Katrine,  in  her 
purple  dress  and  white  vail,  by  my  side,  and  the  kawass 
leading  the  way,  I  emerged  from  the  convent  buildings, 
and  gradually  descended,  on  the  north-east  side,  by  a 
winding  path  almost  like  a  rocky  staircase.  The  upper 
part  of  the  hill  was  covered  with  wild  flowers,  fragrant 
herbs,  shrubs,  artichokes,  acanthus,  and  dwarf  oaks,  and 
on  the  lower  terraces  a  fine  grove  of  olives  and  some  fig- 
trees  flourished. 

9 


98  DOMESTIC   LIFE  IN   PALESTINE. 

The  little  town  of  Haifa  was  in  sight — flags  above  all 
the  Consulates  were  waving  a  welcome  to  Mr.  Finn  and 
my  brother.  I  was  quite  surprised  to  recognize  so  many; 
they  were  French,  Austrian,  Prussian,  Greek,  Dutch,  and 
American,  and  made  the  place  look  quite  cheerful.  We 
rode  through  a  beautiful  olive  grove  in  the  plain  at  the 
foot  of  the  hill,  crossed  several  stubble-fields,  some  rocky 
waste  land  and  young  plantations,  and  found  the  tents  of 
Mr.  Finn  under  a  large  terebinth-tree,  near  to  the  sea-shore, 
not  very  far  from  the  west  wall  of  the  town.  "Visitors  were 
coming  and  going  all  day,  and  coffee  and  pipes  were  in 
constant  requisition. 

The  view  from  the  open  tent,  looking  toward  the  north, 
was  very  lovely.  I  will  try  to  make  you  see  it  as  I  saw 
it  on  that  sunny  afternoon.  Fancy  a  foreground  of  white 
rocks  and  dark  thorny  bushes;  then  a  stony  bridle-path, 
skirting  a  garden  which  gently  slopes  toward  the  shore, 
so  that  the  broad  sands  are  quite  concealed  by  its  fruit 
trees,  and  the  blue  sparkling  sea  looks  as  if  it  came  close 
up  to  the  hedge  of  prickly  pears  below.  On  the  left-hand 
side  of  the  picture  the  sea  meets  the  sky;  but  from  the 
right  a  range  of  undulating  hills,  tinted  with  crimson, 
purple,  and  orange,  extend  more  than  half-way  across  it, 
terminating  in  a  bold  white  cliff  or  headland,  called  Ras  el 
Abiod — the  " Promontorium  Album"  of  Pliny — standing 
out  in  strong  contrast  to  the  dark-blue  sky  and  darker  sea. 
The  opposite  shore  of  the  bay,  nine  miles  distant,  is  marked 
by  a  level  line  of  white  sand,  which  seems  to  separate  the 
sea  from  the  green  plains  at  the  foot  of  the  hills;  and  on  a 
low  promontory  to  the  right  of  Kas  el  Abiod  the  proud- 
looking  little  city  of  'Akka  is  conspicuous,  and  forms  the 
central  point  of  the  picture.  Above  the  clearly-defined 
summits  of  the  hills  silvery  clouds  are  resting.  Mount 
Hermon  rises  in  the  distance,  pale  and  shadowy,  till  the 
Bun  is  low,  and  then  it  is  tinged  with  gold  and  violet. 
Four  ships  are  at  anchor  on  the  right,  and  a  vessel  in  full 
sail  is  entering  the  bay  from  the  north.     A  man-of-war  is 


HAIFA.  99 

cruising  about  far  out  at  sea.  A  tall  palm-tree  on  one 
side,  and  an  oak  and  a  seared,  white-branched  fig-tree  on 
the  other,  inclose  this  coup  d'cdl. 

The  bridle-path  across  the  foreground  was  enlivened  by 
passers-by,  such  as  troops  of  barefooted  boys,  driving 
donkeys  laden  with  hewn  stones,  which  had  been  taken 
from  the  ruins  of  the  fortress,  and  were  about  to  be  used 
in  Haifa,  where  many  new  houses  were  in  progress,  and 
still  more  were  planned.  Camels  laden  with  grain  and 
melons  jolted  by,  and  a  few  townspeople  passed  backward 
and  forward  as  if  to  peep  at  our  tents.  At  sunset  there 
came  large  numbers  of  goats  and  cattle,  led  toward  the 
town  to  be  secured  there  for  the  night,  for  it  is  not  safe  to 
leave  them  in  the  open  country,  even  in  the  care  of  the 
well-armed  herdsmen. 

Hciifa  is  a  walled  town,  in  the  form  of  a  parallelogram, 
pleasantly  situated  close  to  the  sea,  on  a  gently-rising  slope. 
A  steep  hill,  a  spur  of  Mount  Carmel,  rises  immediately 
behind  it,  and  is  crowned  by  a  small  castle,  to  which  I 
climbed  with  Mr.  Finn,  and  thence  looked  down  into  the 
town.  The  houses  are  distributed  irregularly.  Those  oc- 
cupied by  consuls  and  merchants  are  large,  substantial 
buildings  of  hewn  stone,  with  central  courts  and  broad 
terraces.  The  poorer  class  of  houses  are  of  earth  and  rough 
stone,  and  have  no  upper  chambers.  All  the  roofs  are  flat. 
On  each  side  of  the  little  town  there  are  fine  fruit  gar- 
dens, where  the  pomegranates  and  figs  especially  flourish. 
A  grove  of  palm-trees  borders  the  sandy  shore  on  the  east 
of  the  town.* 

I  returned  to  the  convent  to  sleep,  and  after  spending 
the  next  day,  Sunday,  with  Mr.  Finn  at  the  tents,  I  pre- 
pared to  enter  Haifa  for  the  first  time,  by  moonlight. 

*  The  town  of  Haifa  was  built  where  it  now  stands,  by  the  famous  Dhaher,  gov- 
ernor of  Acre,  in  the  middle  of  the  last  century.  The  ruins  of  the  old  town  of 
'Ht/xx,  Sycaminum,  are  still  to  be  seen  on  the  sea-shore  just  below  the  head  of 
Mount  Carmel,  which  site  Dhaher  found  to  be  too  much  exposed  to  the  incursions 
of  the  nomadic  tribes  in  the  plain  of  Athllte.  Some  of  the  elder  residents  remem- 
ber their  fathers  having  pointed  out  the  position  of  their  former  residences  in  the 
old  town.— E.  T.  R. 


100  DOMESTIC  LIFE  IN  PALESTINB 


CHAPTER  Y. 

DOMESTIC  LIFE  IN  HAIFA. 

Although  the  tents  were  very  near  to  the  town,  Mr. 
Finn  laughingly  insisted  that  I  should  not  make  my  first 
entry  into  Haifa  on  foot;  so  I  mounted,  and,  with  my 
brother  and  a  few  of  his  Arab  friends  walking  by  my  side, 
traversed  the  bridle-path  by  the  gardens,  and  approached 
the  embattled  stone  gateway.  Its  heavy  wooden  doors, 
covered  with  hides  and  plates  of  iron,  were  thrown  open 
for  us,  on  their  creaking  hinges,  by  the  sleepy  wardens, 
whose  mattresses  were  spread  on  stone  platforms  in  the 
square  vaulted  chamber  of  the  gate.  They  welcomed  us 
with  the  words,  "  Enter  in,  in  peace."  We  said,  "  May 
God  preserve  you!  good-night."  And  they  answered,  "A 
thousand  good  nights  to  you !"  but  their  greetings  were 
almost  drowned  by  the  angry  barking  of  a  troop  of  dogs, 
roused  by  the  clanging  of  the  great  doors  behind  us. 

Within  the  town,  wherever  there  was  space,  flocks  and 
herds  were  lying  down,  crowded  together  in  the  moonlight; 
and  in  the  narrow,  tortuous,  dirty,  channeled  streets  we  met 
now  and  then  a  moaning,  miserable-looking,  sleepless  cow 
or  stray  donkey. 

We  passed  a  little  belfried  Latin  chapel,  shaded  by  a 
pepper-tree — just  like  a  willow — and  a  simple  mosque  and 
minaret,  with  a  palm-tree  near  it,  and  then  came  to  a 
pleasant  opening  close  to  the  sea-shore,  where  a  number  of 
camels,  camel-drivers,  and  peasants  were  sleeping  round  the 
red  embers  of  a  wood  fire. 

I  dismounted  at  the  entrance  of  a  house  overlooking  this 
scene,  and  passed  under  a  low,  arched  gateway,  into  a 
roughly-paved,  open  court,  brightened  by   the  lamps  and 


HAIFA.*  Id 

lanterns  in  the  rooms  all  round  it,  the  doors  of  which  were 
open,  for  their  inmates,  our  neighbors,  were  watching  and 
waiting  to  see  and  welcome  us. 

I  mounted  a  steep,  uncovered,  stone  stairway  to  a  broad 
landing,  dignified  by  the  name  of  terrace,  leading  to  two 
square,  lofty,  airy  rooms,  with  whitewashed  walls  and  stone 
floors,  where  my  brother  had  formerly  lived  for  a  year  or 
more;  this  was  to  be  our  temporary  home,  and  Katrine, 
with  the  help  of  an  upholsterer — an  Arab  Jew — ^had  been 
very  busy  making*  it  ready  for  us. 

At  the  end  of  the  terrace  was  a  little  room,  in  which 
were  all  the  requisites  for  preparing  pipes,  coffee,  and  sher- 
bets. Narghiles,  chibouques,  tobacco-bags,  coffee-cups,  and 
glasses  garnished  its  walls — and  Yusef,  our  little  coffee 
boy,  pipe-bearer,  and  page,  who,  to  his  infinite  satisfaction, 
presided  over  it,  came  out,  arrayed  in  all  his  best,  to  kiss 
my  hands,  and  evidently  did  his  utmost  to  make  a  favor- 
able impression  on  his  new  mistress.  He  had  on  clean, 
loose,  white  cotton  drawers,  a  scarlet  cloth  jacket,  a  shawl 
girdle,  and  a  white,  quilted  cotton  skull-cap.  Katrine  was 
quite  content  with  her  new  quarters  below,  and  she  told  me 
that  she  had  unexpectedly  found  some  cousins  in  Haifa. 
I  congratulated  her,  guessing,  however,  that  this  was  only 
one  of  her  curious  delusions. 

My  brother's  dragoman  and  secretary,  Mohammed,  his 
Egyptian  groom,  and  several  candidates  for  service  at  the 
Yice-Consulate,  crowded  round  to  welcome  me,  and  solicit 
my  favor  and  protection,  in  words  which  were  exactly  like 
quotations  from  the  Old  Testament. 

An  elderly  Moslem  woman,  with  an  anxious,  time-worn 
face,  came,  and  after  saluting  me,  said,  "  If  now  I  have 
found  grace  in  your  sight,  speak  for  me  to  my  lord,  your 
brother,  that  he  may  take  my  son  into  his  service;  speak 
now,  I  pray  you,  a  word  for  my  son,  for  he  is  my  only  son, 
and  I  am  a  widow." 

Mattresses,  cushions,  and  pillows,  newly  covered  with 
chintz,  placed  nearly  all  round  the  rooms  on  planks,  sup- 


102  POMEfeTXO-LEPB   m  PALESTINE. 

ported  by  roughly-made,  low  wooden  trestles,  a  few  pieces 
of  European  furniture,  and  a  pretty  well-stocked  bookcase, 
made  the  place  look  cozy  and  comfortable.  The  boat  from 
Tanttira  arrived  safely  during  the  night  with  our  luggage. 

The  next  morning,  September  24th,  two  men  from  Naz- 
areth came  to  welcome  us,  and  gave  me  a  fatted  lamb. 
Soon  afterward  a  little  party  arrived  from  Shefa  'Amer, 
with  a  camel-load  of  fine  water-melons ;  and  a  peasant  from 
a  neighboring  village  brought  us  some  goat's  milk  cheese. 

I  must  explain  that  these  offerings  are  generally  paid  for 
at  a  rate  considerably  above  the  market  price. 

Saleh  Sekhali,  our  neighbor,  a  Christian  Arab,  an  intel- 
ligent, thoughtful-looking  man,  took  breakfast  with  us.  He 
told  me  that  my  brother  was  the  only  Englishman  who  had 
ever  resided  in  Haifa,  and  that  I  was  the  first  English  girl 
who  had  ever  passed  a  night  within  the  walls  of  the  town. 
He  said  that  very  strange  notions  and  opinions  were  held 
by  the  Arabs  about  English  women  and  English  society, 
and  a  great  deal  of  curiosity  was  expressed  by  his  friends 
on  the  subject.  They  hoped  now  to  have  an  opportunity 
of  judging  for  themselves  by  personal  intercourse  with  us. 

Saleh  did  not  understand  any  European  language,  but  he 
was  clever  and  very  quick  of  comprehension,  and  fond  of 
study.  He  kindly  volunteered  to  teach  me  Arabic,  and  to 
hear  me  read  every  day. 

On  inquiry  I  found  that  the  population  of  Haifa  was,  in 
1854,  computed  thus : 

Moslem 1,200 

Greek   Catholics 400l  AdherenU  of  the  Pope, 

Latins 50  >     and  oonsequently  ua- 

MaroniteS 30  J      d«  French  p«tromige. 

Orthodox  Greeks 300 

Jews 32 

.Making  a  total  of. 2,012 

In  the  year  1860  the  population  was  reckoned  at  about 
2,300  souls.  We  went  out  and  took  leave  of  Mr.  Finn, 
who  was  on  the  point  of  starting  for  'Akka.    His  tents  were 


HAIFA.  103 

all  cleared  away.  Then  we  called  at  each  of  the  Consulates, 
for  among  the  Europeans  in  the  Levant,  the  new-comer  is 
expected  to  be  the  first  caller.  The  French  Consul — who 
in  early  youth  had  served  in  the  ranks  of  the  first  Napo- 
leon— received  us  heartily,  and  introduced  me  to  his  wife, 
a  Syrian  lady,  who  spoke  French  fluently.  The  Austrian 
Consul  is  a  native  of  one  of  the  Dalmatian  Isles,  and  the 
other  Consulates  were  held  by  lonians  and  natives  of  Scio, 
who  showed  us  great  courtesy  and  kindness.  The  American 
Consular  Agent  is  an  Arab,  who  can  speak  a  little  broken 
English.  The  ladies  of  these  families  were  all  either  Syrian 
or  Greek,  but  they  most  of  them  spoke  Italian,  and  wel- 
comed me  into  their  circle  with  graceful  cordiality.  Two 
other  families,  of  French  extraction,  engaged  in  commerce, 
completed  the  European  colony  of  Haifa.  Their  houses 
were  built  in  Oriental  fashion,  round  courts,  some  of  which 
were  paved  with  black  and  white  marble.  The  rooms  were 
furnished  with  Turkish  divans,  French  mirrors,  consoles, 
and  pictures.  I  must  not  omit  the  little  Cafe,  called  the 
Victoria  Hotel,  kept  by  a  Maltese. 

Wednesday,  September  26th,  a  party  of  women  in  white 
izzars,  or  sheets,  from  the  court  below,  came  early  and 
brought  me  several  flat  loaves  of  bread,  stamped  with  a 
cross,  formed  of  groups  of  sacred  monograms,  IC,  XC,  NI, 
KI,  etc.,  in  celebration  of  the  Greek  Feast  of  the  Holy  Cross. 

Presently  the  Greek  Bishop  of  'Akka  visited  us.  He 
wore  a  long,  blue  cloth  dress,  very  flowing  and  open,  ex- 
posing an  under  robe  of  crimson  silk,  a  crimson  girdle, 
and  black  pointed  shoes.  He  did  not  remove  his  low, 
brimless,  black  hat,  which  curves  slightly  and  spreads 
toward  the  crown. 

When  he  and  his  suite  had  retired,  a  letter  was  handed 
to  my  brother,  which  caused  him  to  rise  hastily  and  go  out. 
I  watched  from  the  front  window,  and  soon  saw  evident 
signs  of  a  commotion  in  the  town.  Little  groups  of  armed 
men  were  standing  about  in  the  open  place,  and  passing 
hurriedly  to  and  fro.     In  a  short  time  I  saw  all  the  consuls 


104  DOMESTIC  LIFE  IN  PALESTINE. 

in  a  body,  preceded  by  their  kawasses,  carrying  their 
swords  and  tall  silver-headed  sticks,  going  toward  the 
Governor's  castle,  which  was  in  sight.  My  brother  ran 
up  for  a  moment  to  tell  me  that  Tireh  and  the  villages 
in  its  neighborhood  had  united  to  attack  Haifa,  and  three 
or  four  hundred  of  the  peasantry  were  just  outside  the 
walls,  attempting  to  effect  an  entrance.  We  were  actually 
in  a  state  of  siege.  The  two  gates  were  closed  and  guarded, 
and  wherever  its  walls  were  very  weak,  detachments  of  im- 
promptu volunteers  were  placed.  I  sat  alone  watching, 
and  wondering  what  would  happen.  Men  were  parading 
the  streets,  making  a  great  noise,  and  armed  with  old  guns, 
staves,  and  swords  of  all  shapes.  The  boys  followed  their 
example  by  marching  about  with  sticks,  shouting  lustily, 
seemingly  half  for  fun  and  half  for  fear.  I  could  hear  the 
firing  of  guns  now  and  then  from  the  back  of  the  town, 
and  the  loud  screams  of  the  terrified  women  and  children. 

Girls  from  the  neighboring  houses  and  the  court  below 
flocked  into  my  room,  with  their  mothers,  crying  and  trem- 
bling. They  wondered  why  Madam  Inglesi,  as  they  called 
me,  did  not  show  any  signs  of  fear.  I  tried  to  calm  them, 
saying,  "Be  at  rest,  Allah  is  good."  But  they  almost 
nonplused  me  by  replying,  "Allah  is  good!  Praised  be 
Allah!  But  the  sons  of  Tireh  are  bad!"  And  they 
refused  to  be  comforted. 

A  group  of  heavily-armed,  mounted  horsemen  were 
prancing  about,  as  if  to  excite  all  the  people  to  action. 
The  consuls  returned  from  the  castle,  where  a  council 
had  been  held.  They  had  drawn  up  a  protest  against 
the  Government,  and  signed  it.  I  was  told  that  four  of 
the  most  venturesome  of  the  attacking  party  had  been 
shot  under  the  south  wall,  and  some  of  our  townspeople 
had  been  slightly  wounded.  The  Tirehites  had  retreated; 
but  as  it  was  expected  that  they  would  renew  the  attack 
at  night,  preparations  were  made  to  resist  it;  for  the  walls 
of  Haifa  are  not  very  strong,  and  could  easily  be  scaled  or 
broken  down. 


ALARM  AT  HAIFA.  105 

A  messenger  was  dispatched  to  'Akka  by  boat  to  demand 
assistance.  In  the  mean  time  my  brother,  at  the  Governor's 
request,  procured  guns  and  ammunition  from  an  English 
ship  in  the  port.  Our  room  was  converted  into  an  armory, 
and  our  stairway  and  terrace  was  soon  crowded  with  appli- 
cants for  arms,  which  were  cautiously  distributed.  A  Gov- 
ernment secretary  stood  by,  making  a  list  of  the  names  of 
the  volunteers  thus  supplied.  By  sunset  the  excitement 
had  greatly  increased,  and  no  one  seemed  to  think  of  going 
to  rest.  The  consuls  kept  a  careful  look-out  on  the  walls, 
and  men  paraded  the  town  by  moonlight,  shouting,  "Our 
swords  are  strong,  and  our  trust  is  in  God!"  And  the 
boys,  with  their  sticks  uplifted,  echoed  the  words  at  the 
top  of  their  voices. 

Several  Arab  women,  my  neighbors,  came  and  sat  with 
me  when  my  brother  went  out.  One  of  them  brought  a 
favorite  Arab  dish  of  bleached  and  crushed  walnuts  and 
vermicelli,  baked  in  butter  and  sugar.  It  was  eaten  while 
hot.  The  women  all  wore  full  trowsers  and  tight  jackets; 
some  were  made  of  colored  prints,  and  others  of  striped 
Damascus  silk.  Katrine's  simple  Bethlehem  dress  was 
quite  strange  to  them — they  had  never  seen  the  costume 
before.  They  smoked,  and  chatted,  and  laughed,  and  cried 
by  turns;  and  retired,  hastily  vailing  themselves,  when  my 
brother  came  in  at  midnight  to  tell  me  that  fifty  artillery- 
men and  thirty  Bashi  Bazuks  had  arrived  from  'Akka  in 
consequence  of  the  consular  protest.  They  were  placed  in 
proper  positions  as  sentinels  and  patrols,  and  three  or  four 
hundred  of  the  peasantry  of  a  friendly  village  came  to 
offer  their  assistance.  Many  of  them  were  mounted  on 
horses,  and  carried  long  spears;  the  rest  had  heavy  guns. 
Altogether  the  little  place  looked  quite  warlike.  Thus 
protected  we  slept  in  peace. 

The  next  morning  a  large  party  of  horsemen  arrived 
from  Shefa  'Amer  and  dismounted  at  our  house;  for  they 
had  come,  they  said,  especially  to  protect  the  English  Vice- 
Consulate. 


106  DOMESTIC  LIFE  IN  PALESTINE. 

The  Tirehites  had  now  quite  retreated,  but  our  little 
town  was  still  full  of  excitement.  The  assembled  volun- 
teers and  armed  peasantry  were  galloping  about,  singing 
and  shouting,  and  now  and  then  firing  their  guns.  They 
seemed  quite  disappointed  at  not  finding  any  especial  use 
for  them.  The  place  was  so  well  guarded  that  there  was 
no  longer  any  fear  of  an  attack. 

Just  before  sunset  I  strolled  out  with  my  brother  through 
the  quadrangle -or  castle-court,  which  was  occupied  by  the 
artillery.  We  went  out  at  the  east  gate,  and  through  the 
Moslem  cemetery  to  the  fruit-gardens  and  the  palm-grove. 
We  were  returning  homeward  on  the  sands  when  the  loud 
and  angry  shouting  of  some  herdsmen  attracted  our  notice. 
A  large  number  of  cattle,  some  of  which  were  said  to  be 
stolen  property,  were  being  led  toward  the  town,  and  they 
were  the  subjects  of  the  dispute.  A  crowd  soon  assembled, 
the  noise  increased,  and  an  angry  contest  ensued,  till  words 
were  followed  by  blows.  I  was  led  out  of  the  way,  and 
stationed  on  an  embankment,  thrown  up  years  ago  by  Ibra- 
him Pasha's  soldiers.  The  disturbance  was,  naturally,  mis- 
construed by  the  gallant  volunteers  and  defenders  of  Haifa. 
A  troop  of  mounted  peasantry  issued  from  the  gates,  their 
long  spears  uplifted,  the  dust  flying  under  the  feet  of  their 
galloping  horses,  while  their  long  striped  cloaks  and  shawl 
head-dresses — kefias — streamed  like  flags  or  banners.  The 
cattle  and  goats  fled  in  all  directions,  and  in  their  fright 
they  did  not  seem  to  see  where  they  were  going,  but  blun- 
dered into  thickets,  against  rocks  and  tombs,  and  into  the 
sea.  I  was  very  nearly  thrown  down  by  some  of  them. 
More  than  a  hundred  men  came  out  before  they  discovered 
that  it  was  only  a  false  alarm,  and  then,  regretfully,  they 
retraced  their  steps.  Saleh,  who  was  with  us,  told  me  to 
consider  it  as  a  little  "fantasia,"  got  up  for  my  especial 
entertainment. 

After  our  evening  meal  my  brother  was  called  away.  I 
puzzled  over  my  Arabic  lesson  for  some  time,  and  then 
went  out  on  the  terrace,  where  two  of  the  men-servants 


ARRIVAL  OP  HELP.  lOY 

were  already  sleeping.  It  seemed  to  me  like  a  dream  to 
be  standing  there  alone  in  the  moonlight,  the  night-silence 
only  broken  by  the  rippling  of  the  waves  on  the  shore,  the 
bleating  of  my  tethered  lamb,  and  distant  sounds  of  shout- 
ing and  singing. 

The  next  day  the  Pasha  of  'Akka  arrived.  He  visited 
each  of  the  consuls,  and  then  held  a  council  at  the  castle. 
It  was  proposed  that  a  force  should  march  against  Tireh, 
in  order  to  arrest  and  punish  the  plotters  of  the  late  attack 
on  Haifa ;  but  it  was  soon  made  apparent  that  the  Tirehites 
had  friends  at  Court  and  protectors  in  the  Council.  Some 
Moslems  of  influence  in  Haifa  had  personal  interest  in  the 
prosperity  of  Tireh,  for  they  had  considerable  property 
there,  and  some  of  the  Tirehites  were  largely  in  their  debt. 
Through  their  interference  and  bribes,  the  affair  was  allowed 
to  pass  by  almost  unnoticed,  notwithstanding  the  strongly- 
expressed  indignation  of  the  consuls  and  others. 

A  few  days  afterward,  I  was  invited  to  a  wedding  in  the 
Sekhali  family,  Christian  Arabs  of  the  orthodox  Greek 
community.  At  about  eight  o'clock,  A.  M.,  I  was  led  into 
their  church,  a  domed  building,  lighted  from  above,  and 
gaudy  with  highly-colored,  distorted  copies  of  ancient  By- 
zantine pictures;  for  the  Greeks,  though  not  allowed  to 
have  images  to  assist  them  in  their  devotions,  may  have 
pictures,  provided  they  are  not  too  life-like !  The  body  of 
the  church,  unincumbered  by  stalls  or  chairs,  was  already 
nearly  filled  with  wedding  guests,  holding  lighted — home- 
made— wax  tapers;  one  was  placed  in  my  hands.  In  the 
center  of  the  crowd,  at  a  lectern,  stood  a  priest,  and,  im- 
mediately before  him,  the  bride,  closely  shrouded  in  a  white 
izzar.  A  many-colored  muslin  vail  entirely  concealed  her 
features.  The  bridegroom  by  her  side,  who  was  only  sev- 
enteen, wore  a  suit  of  sky-blue  cloth,  edged  with  gold 
thread,  and  a  handsome  crimson  and  white  shawl  girdle. 
He  had  only  once  seen  the  face  of  the  bride,  and  that  was 
six  months  before,  on  the  day  of  the  betrothal. 

The  service  was  in  Arabic,  and  rapidly  uttered  in  clear 


108  DOMESTIC  LIFE  IN  PALESTINE. 

but  inono1;onous  tones.  The  most  important  part  of  it 
seemed  to  be  the  Gospel  narrative  of  the  marriage  at  Cana, 
in  Galilee.  While  the  priest  was  reading  it,  bread  and 
wine  were  handed  to  the  young  man.  He  gave  some  to 
the  girl,  who,  in  laking  it,  was  very  careful  not  to  expose 
her  face.  Immediately  afterward,  she  held  out  one  of  her 
henna-stained  hands,  and  a  jeweled  ring  was  placed  on  her 
finger.  Two  crowns,  made  of  gilt  foil,  were  brought  by 
the  bridegroom's-man  and  bride's-woman,  and  placed  on 
the  heads  of  the  now  married  pair,  who  joined  hands,  and 
with  their  two  attendants  walked  round  and  round  in  the 
midst  of  the  people,  who  made  way  for  them  and  sprinkled 
them  with  rose-water  and  other  scents  as  they  passed,  sing- 
ing, and  shouting  good  wishes.  By  the  time  the  circuit 
had  been  made  seven  times,  the  vails  of  the  bride  and 
bride's-woman  were  quite  saturated,  and  the  two  men  sub- 
mitted, without  the  slightest  resistance,  to  have  bottles  of 
scent  emptied  on  their  tarbushes.  As  the  excitement  in- 
creased, the  sprinkling  became  general,  and  I  came  in  for 
my  share.     Thus  ended  the  ceremony. 

While  this  was  going  on,  a  continual  shrill  screaming 
accompaniment  was  kept  up  by  the  female  friends  of  the 
bride,  who  were  crowded  together  in  the  latticed  gallery 
overhead.  There  were  very  few  women  in  the  body  of 
the  church,  and  those  were  near  relations  of  the  bride  or 
bridegroom.  Presently  the  men  formed  a  procession,  and 
with  the  bridegroom  in  their  midst,  walked  out  of  church. 
A  pipe-bearer,  carrying  a  handsome  chibouque,  was  in 
attendance,  and  he  handed  it  to  the  bridegroom  whenever 
the  leaders  paused  to  dance,  or  to  sing  some  wild  extrava- 
gant love-song.  Rose-water  was  poured  on  his  head  from 
the  roofs  or  windows  of  the  houses  under  which  he  passed. 
Etiquette  required  that  he  should  look  quite  calm  and  com- 
posed in  the  midst  of  the  noise  and  excitement.  I  was  told  by 
Saleh  that  he  preserved  his  dignified  demeanor  throughout 
the  day,  while  his  friends  and  fellow-townsmen  were  feast- 
ing and  making  merry  round  him,  and  singing  bridal  songs. 


THE  vmam  bride.  109 

In  the  mean  time,  the  bride,  with  her  female  attendants 
and  companions,  all  vailed,  and  shrouded  in  white,  walked 
very  slowly  toward  her  home — the  home  of  her  childhood ; 
for  she  was  not  to  go  forth  to  meet  the  bridegroom  till 
after  sunset.  I  accompanied  her.  We  all  carried  our 
tapers,  although  it  was  the  third  hour,  that  is,  about  nine 
o'clock,  A.  M.  We  paused  now  and  then  while  one  of  the 
professional  singing  women  improvised  a  solo,  suitable  for 
the  occasion.  All  the  women  took  up  the  words,  and  joined 
in  chorus,  as  we  walked  on  again.  One  verse  was  in  allu- 
sion to  the  presence  of  a  daughter  of  England  at  the  wed- 
ding. It  was  regarded  as  a  favorable  omen.  The  chorus 
was  a  prayer  for  the  peace  and  happiness  of  the  English 
girl.  We  mounted  a  broad,  covered  stone  staircase,  and, 
passing  through  a  corridor,  entered  a  large,  many-windowed 
room.  The  bride  was  led  to  a  sort  of  throne,  made  of 
cushions  and  embroidered  pillows,  and  I  was  placed  by  her 
side.  Her  white  izzar  and  vail  were  taken  off.  She  looked 
dreadfully  faint  and  fatigued.  She  was  not  more  than  four- 
teen years  old,  with  an  oval  face,  rather  large  lips,  and 
black,  delicately-arched  eyebrows.  Her  eyes  were  shut; 
for  custom  makes  it  a  point  of  honor  for  a  bride  to  keep 
them  closed  from  the  time  she  leaves  the  church  till  the 
moment  she  meets  the  bridegroom  at  night.  She  sat  in 
state,  in  a  kneeling  posture,  resting  on  her  heels,  while  the 
palms  of  her  hands  were  placed  flat  on  her  knees,  as  some 
Indian  deities  are  represented.  Her  head-dress  was  almost 
concealed  by  strings  of  pearls,  festoons  of  small  gold  coins, 
diamond — or  paste — rosettes,  and  flower  sprays.  Her  long 
hair,  twisted  with  braid,  hung  down  her  back  in  nine  plaits, 
heavy  with  little  gold  ornaments  and  coins.  She  wore  a 
purple  velvet  jacket,  very  open  in  front,  showing  her  crape 
shirt  and  her  chest,  which  was  actually  adorned  with  little 
bits  of  leaf-gold !  Her  necklace,  or  collar  of  gold  coins, 
was  very  beautiful.  Her  skirt  of  white  and  yellow  silk 
almost  concealed  her  full,  yellow  silk  drawers.  Her  hands 
and  arms  were  checkered  with  deep   orange-brown  henna 


110  DOMESTIC  LIFE  IN  PALESTINE. 

stains;  but  what  struck  me  more  than  all,  was  the  glossy, 
shining  luster  of  her  skin. 

While  I  had  been  intently  watching  and  observing  the 
bride,  the  company  of  women  had  quite  transformed  them- 
selves. They  had  thrown  off  their  white  izzars  and  vails, 
and  now  appeared  in  all  the  colors  of  the  rainbow — in  all 
sorts  of  combinations.  The  faces  of  many  looked  as  glossy 
as  the  bride's.  Nearly  all  of  them  had  very  large  dark 
eyes,  with  the  edges  of  the  eyelids  blackened  with  kohl. 
Their  mouths  were  rather  wide,  and  revealed  large,  very 
perfect  white  teeth,  which  glistened  as  the  teeth  of  wild 
animals  do.  Their  complexions  were  generally  dark,  but 
brilliant  and  clear.  They  came  forward,  one  by  one,  to 
kiss  the  bride's  hand;  but  she  remained  quite  passive, 
and  did  not  answer  any  salutations.  Dancing  and  singing 
commenced.  A  woman  kept  time  with  a  tambourine,  and 
two  or  three  dancers  stood  up  in  the  center  of  the  room, 
and  attitudinized  gracefully  but  voluptuously.  They  began 
very  slowly  —  advancing,  as  if  reluctantly  and  timidly, 
toward 'some  imaginary  object — then  retreating,  only  to 
advance  again,  gradually  quickening  both  step  and  action. 
The  lookers  on  sat  round  on  the  matted  floor,  in  a  double 
row,  clapping  their  hands  in  harmony  with  the  tambourine, 
and  singing  wild,  passionate  songs,  to  melodies  in  a  minor 
key,  in  two-four  time.  As  soon  as  one  dancer  was  tired, 
another  stood  up  and  replaced  her;  and  four  of  them 
worked  themselves  up  into  such  a  state  of  excitement  that 
they  looked  as  if  they  were  dying,  when  at  last  they  gave 
way.  Some- of  the  younger  girls  wore  white  calico  dresses, 
with  small  gold  spangles  sewed  all  over  them  in  clusters; 
others  had  on  white  thin  muslin  skirts,  over  blue  or  red 
silk  trowsers,  and  red  or  black  velvet  jackets;  and,  when 
they  danced,  they  held  in  their  hands  embroidered  shawls, 
which  they  waved  about  gracefully.  Sweetmeats,  fruits, 
creams,  and  various  dishes  were  served  at  midday. 

After  sunset  the  mother  and  female  relations  of  the 
bridegroom  came  to  fetch  the  bride;  and  then  she  com- 


BBIDAL  CUSTOMS.  Ill 

meneed  crying  and  wailing  bitterly.  This  is  expected  of 
her;  and,  whether  she  feel  regret  or  no,  she  must  show 
signs  of  sorrow  on  leaving  her  home,  and  must  also  appear 
unwilling  to  go  forth  to  meet  the  bridegroom.  This  real 
or  affected  reluctance  is  sometimes  carried  to  such  an  ex- 
tent that  the  weeping  bride  has  to  be  pushed  and  dragged 
along  very  ungracefully.  I  have  witnessed  ludicrous  scenes 
of  this  kind.  The  vailed  bride,  whose  eyes  are  still  sup- 
posed to  be  closed — but  she  does  peep  about  a  little — is 
generally  Ijifted  on  to  a  horse;  and,  though  her  new  home 
may  be  only  in  the  next  street,  she  makes  a  tour  through 
the  town  or  village,  riding  very  slowly,  attended  by  a  large 
company  of  women  and  girls,  carrying  flaming  torches,  and 
screaming  and  singing  wildly. 

I  have  often  lent  my  horse  to  a  poor  girl  that  she  may 
thus  ride  in  triumph,  lifted  up  among  the  crowd  of  torch- 
bearers,  to  meet  her  bridegroom;  and  very  often,  just  before 
midnight,  I  have  been  attracted  to  the  window  to  see  such 
processions  pass  by. 

Before  the  going  forth  of  the  bride  a  party  of  men  and 
women  convey  her  trousseau  by  torch-light  to  her  new  home. 
A  red  wooden  cradle  and  a  red  box  are  always  the  most 
conspicuous  objects.  Sometimes  a  small  looking-glass  in 
a  gilt  frame  is  proudly  displayed.  Pillows  covered  with 
bright-colored  silks,  a  trayful  of  scented  soap,  a  mattress  or 
two,  and  a  lehaff  may  be  seen,  varying  in  quality  according 
to  the  rank  of  the  bride. 

On  subsequent  and  persevering  inquiry  among  Arab 
ladies,  I  found  out  how  it  was  that  the  bride's  face 
looked  so  lustrous.  I  learned  that  girls  are  prepared  for 
marriage  with  a  very  great  deal  of  ceremony.  There  are 
women  who  make  the  beautifying  of  brides  their  especial 
profession ! 

A  widow  woman,  named  Angelina,  is  the  chief  artiste  in 
this  department  of  art  in  Haifa.  She  uses  her  scissors  and 
tweezers  freely  and  skillfully  to  remove  superfluous  hair, 
and  trains   the  eyebrow  to  an  arched   line,  perfecting  it 


112  DOMESTIC  LIFE  IN  PALESTINE. 

witli  black  pigments.  She  prepares  an  adhesive  plaster 
of  very  strong,  sweet  gum,  and  applies  it  by  degrees  all 
over  the  body,  letting  it  remain  on  for  a  minute  or  more; 
then  she  tears  it  off  quickly,  and  it  brings  away  with  it  all 
the  soft  down  or  hair,  leaving  the  skin  quite  bare,  with  an 
unnaturally-bright  and  polished  appearance,  much  admired 
by  Orientals.  The  face  requires  very  careful  manipulation.* 
When  women  have  once  submitted  to  this  process,  they 
look  frightful  if  from  time  to  time  they  do  not  repeat  it; 
for  the  hair  never  grows  so  soft  and  fine  again.  Perhaps 
this  is  one  of  the  reasons  why  aged  Arab  women,  who 
have  quite  given  up  all  these  arts  of  adornment,  look  so 
haggard  and  witch-like.  In  some  instances  this  ordeal 
slightly  irritates  the  skin,  and  perfumed  sesame  or  olive- 
oil  is  applied,  or  cooling  lotions  of  elder-flower  water  are 
used. 

The  bride  invites  her  friends  to  accompany  her  to  the 
public  bath  previous  to  the  wedding  day,  and  sends  to 
each  one  a  packet  of  henna,  two  or  three  pieces  of  soap, 
and  two  wax  candles.  Angelina  is  generally  the  bearer 
of  the  message  and  of  these  articles,  which  are  always 
to  be  paid  for.  I  have  now  and  then  accepted  such  invi- 
tations. 

Bridal  parties  assemble  and  sometimes  pass  three  suc- 
cessive days  in  the  luxury  of  the  Turkish  bath.  Pipes, 
sherbet,  coffee,  and  other  refreshments  are  served,  and  songs 
are  sung  in  honor  of  the  bride,  who  is,  of  course,  attended 
by  Angelina,  and  forms  the  center  of  attraction.  Her  hair 
is  unbraided,  she  is  slowly  disrobed,  and  then,  with  her  loins 
slightly  girdled  with  crimson  silk,  she  is  mounted  on  high 
clogs,  and  led  through  halls  and  passages  gradually  in- 
creasing in  temperature,  with  fountains  overflowing  their 
marble  floors.     She  is  placed  on  a  marble  platform,  near  to 

*  Did  David  allude  to  this  custom— which  is  evidently  a  very  ancient  one^ 
when  he  prayed  for  the  physical  prosperity  of  his  kingdom  and  said,  "  May  our 
daughters  be  as  corner-stones,  polished  after  the  similitude  of  a  palace?"  It  is 
only  as  brides  or  wives  that  they  could  bo  recognized  as  corner-stones,  helping  to 
build  up  the  nation,  and  it  is  then  that  their  faces  are  made  to  shine. 


PREPARING   THE  BRIDE.  118 

a  jet  of  hot  water.  Fullers'  earth  is  rubbed  on  her  head, 
she  is  lathered  with  soap,  and  brushed  with  a  handful  of 
tow.  Hot  water  is  poured  over  her,  freely,  she  is  swathed 
in  long  towels,  and  by  slow  degrees  conducted  back  to  a 
more  moderate  temperature,  and  lastly  to  a  fountain  of  cool 
water.  Her  companions  in  the  mean  time  undergo  the  same 
process.  Then,  shrouded  in  muslin,  crape,  or  linen,  they 
sit  together,  smoking,  till  they  are  rested  and  refreshed. 

The  edges  of  the  eyelids  are  blackened  thus — a  little 
instrument,  like  a  silver  bodkin,  is  dipped  in  water,  and 
then  into  a  bottle  or  box  containing  an  impalpable  powder 
called  kohl^  made  of  antimony  and  carefully-prepared  soot; 
the  blackened  point  is  drawn  gently  along  between  the 
almost  closed  lids  of  the  eyes.  Poor  people  use  soot  alone, 
and  apply  it  with  pins  made  of  lignum  vitae.* 

The  arms  and  hands,  legs  and  feet,  are  bandaged  with 
narrow  tape  or  braid,  like  sandals,  crossing  and  recrossing 
each  other ;  then  a  paste  made  of  moistened  henna  powder — 
the  pulverized  leaves  of  the  henna  tree — Lawsonia — is 
spread  and  bound  over  them,  and  allowed  to  remain  on 
for  several  hours.  When  it  is  removed,  the  skin  is  found 
deeply  dyed  wherever  the  tape — which  is  now  unwound — 
did  not  protect  it.  Thus  a  sort  of  checkered  pattern  is 
produced,  and  when  it  is  artistically  and  delicately  done — 
as  Angelina  can  do  it — the  feet  look,  at  a  distance,  as  if 
they  were  sandaled,  and  the  hands  as  if  they  were  covered 
with  mittens  of  a  bright  orange  or  bronze  color. 

Finally,  early  on  the  wedding-day,  the  bride  is  dressed 
in  her  bridal  robes.  Her  hair  is  braided  in  what  we  call 
the  Grecian  plait.  Small  pieces  of  leaf-gold  are  stuck  on 
her  forehead  and  on  her  breast.     Care  is  taken  not  to  con- 

*  This  process  is  probably  referred  to  by  Ezekiel  xxiii,  40.  "  Ye  have  sent  for 
men  to  come  from  far ;  for  whom  thon  didst  wash  thyself,  paintedst  thy  eyes,  and 
deckedst  thyself  with  ornaments."  And  it  is  written  that  Jezebel  "painted  her 
eyes,"  or  "  put  her  eyes  in  painting."  And  Jeremiah  says,  in  the  fourth  chapter 
and  thirtieth  verse,  "  Though  thou  deckest  thee  with  ornaments  of  gold ;  though 
thou  rentest  thy  face  [or,  as  it  should  be  written,  thine  eyes,]  with  painting,  in  vain 
shalt  thou  make  thyself  fair,"  etc.  So  we  may  regard  the  use  of  kohl  as  a  very 
ancient  custom. 

10 


114  DOMESTIC  LIFE   IN  PALESTINE. 

ceal  any  of  the  stars  or  spots  tattooed  on  her  face  or  chest 
in  infancy.  A  line  of  blue  dots  encircling  the  lips  is  some- 
times seen,  and  a  spot  on  the  chin  is  very  common.  A 
little  rouge  is  added  to  highten  the  color  of  the  cheeks 
"when  considered  necessary. 

Angelina  gets  into  sad  disgrace  with  the  clergy  of  Haifa 
for  encouraging  all  this  vanity,  out  of  which  she,  by  the 
by,  makes  a  good  living.  She  goes  from  one  church  to 
another  for  absolution,  sometimes  reckoning  herself  a  Greek, 
sometimes  a  Latin,  and  sometimes  a  Melchite,  according  to 
the  leniency  of  the  respective  priests. 

The  Arab  women  are  very  much  wedded  to  the  ancient 
customs  of  thfe  country,  and  they  will  not  abandon  them, 
notwithstanding  the  persevering  efforts  of  the  priesthood. 

The  GTreek  Catholic  Church  vainly  pronounces  anathemas, 
and  threatens  with  excommunication  those  women  who 
tattoo  themselves,  and  use  kohl,  and  henna,  and  rouge. 
They  will  persist  in  doing  so  while  they  believe  that  it 
adds  to  their  beauty,  and  to  their  powers  of  attraction,  and 
in  vain  the  noisy  processions  at  weddings  and  at  burials 
are  forbidden,  so  long  as  the  people  believe  them  to  be  pro- 
pitious. Their  respect  for  custom  is  stronger  even  than 
their  fear  of  the  Church.  If  the  priests  persisted  in  carry- 
ing out  their  threats  of  excommunication  for  such  offenses, 
their  congregations  would  soon  be  scattered;  so  they  are 
lenient,  and  thus  Greek  and  Roman  forms  of  Christianity 
are  blended  insensibly  with  ceremonies  and  practices  so 
ancient  that  their  origin  even  is  unknown. 

This  is  not  the  only  difficulty  which  the  priests  find  to 
contend  with,  in  the  pastoral  care  of  Arab  women. 

In  1859  a  number  of  black  silk  mittens  were  sold  in 
Haifa  by  a  peddler  from  Beirut.  They  were  a  novelty  to 
the  Arab  women,  who  were  quite  proud  of  this  addition  to 
their  toilette,  and  displayed  their  mittened  hands  delight- 
edly in  church.  The  priest  of  the  Greek  Catholic  com- 
munity actually  denounced  them  from  the  altar,  forbidding 
the  adoption  of  gloves,  mittens,  or  any  new  and  expensive 


CHANGE  OP  FASHIONS.  .  115 

luxury  in  their  dress,  and  cautioned  them  also  against 
exposing  any  part  of  their  ornamental  head-dresses  in 
church ! 

I  had  a  very  interesting  conversation  a  few  days  after- 
ward with  the  utterer  of  this  denunciation,  and  he  explained 
to  me  his  reason  for  this  seemingly-strange  interference 
about  the  mittens.  He  said  that  he  considered  it  very 
important  to  check,  if  possible,  the  inroad  of  Frank  taste 
among  the  Arab  women;  for,  if  they  were  to  adopt  the 
Frank  dress,  which  requires  many  changes  of  apparel,  and 
alters  its  fashions  frequently,  a  trousseau  would  be  so  ex- 
pensive that  young  men  would  not  be  able  to  marry,  and 
early  unions,  which  are  so  desirable  in  the  East,  would  be 
prevented.  The  costly  articles  of  a  genuine  Arab  ward- 
robe last  a  lifetime,  and  are  heirlooms,  whereas  the  gala 
dresses  of  a  Frank  wardrobe  must  be  renewed  every  year. 
This  priest  spoke  feelingly ;  for  he  Was  an  Arab,  a  husband, 
and  the  father  of  a  large  family  of  girls.  It  is  quite  clear 
that  in  matters  of  fashion  and  custom,  the  priests  have  very 
little  influence.  In  towns  where  the  Arabs  have  much  in- 
tercourse with  Europeans,  they  gradually  adopt  some  of 
their  manners,  and  imitate  their  costumes,  by  degrees 
abandoning  their  own. 

On  the  1st  of  October  the  victories  in  the  Crimea  were 
announced  and  celebrated  in  'Akka.  Five  times  during 
the  day  twenty-one  guns  were  fired,  and  at  night  the  town 
was  illuminated,  and  bonfires  were  made  on  the  hills  which 
encircle  the  bay.  In  Haifa  a  great  portion  of  the  lately- 
acquired  supply  of  ammunition  was  used  in  feux  de  joie, 
the  minaret  and  the  Consulates  were  lighted  up,  and  we 
borrowed  lamps .  from  the  Jewish  synagogue  to  deck  the 
English  flagstaflf! 

At  night  the  place  was  very  animated.  We  went  out 
with  Saleh  Sekhali,  and  Mohammed  Bek,  a  distinguished- 
looking,  handsome  Moslem,  and  two  or  three  of  his  friends. 
Yusef  led  the  way,  with  "a  lantern  for  our  feet."  It 
threw  light  now  and  then  on  such  muddy  pools,  guttered 


116  DOMESTIC  LIFE   IN  PALESTINE. 

streets,  and  heaps  of  vegetable  refuse,  that  it  was  quite  indis- 
pensable. We  made  our  way  to  the  narrow,  ill-constructed, 
but  well-supplied  bazar,  which  is  generally  deserted  at  sun- 
set, but  that  night  the  shops  were  all  open.  Pipes,  red  and 
yellow  shoes  and  boots,  embroidered  slippers,  Manchester 
prints,  Damascus  silks,  purple  linen,  shawls,  jars,  lamps,  and 
cooking  utensils,  fruit,  sweetmeats,  and  samples  of  grain, 
were  exposed  by  the  light  of  a  hundred  lanterns.  Groups 
of  Arabs  in  their  fite-dsLj  dresses  were  on  all  the  counters, 
and  in  the  open  cafds  and  barbers'  shops  story-tellers  and 
singers  attracted  earnest  listeners.  Showers  of  sugar-plums 
were  thrown  from  one  side  of  the  place  to  the  other,  and 
boys  were  busy  scrambling  for  them. 

Mohammed  Bek  and  Saleh,  and  a  few  Arab  friends, 
spent  the  evening  with  us.  One  of  them  inquired  what 
kind  of  stories  or  romances  English  people  liked.  We  had 
recently  read  "Jane  Eyre,"  so  my  brother  began  trans- 
lating it  to  them,  au  courant,  somewhat  condensing  it,  and 
adapting  it  to  Arab  comprehension.  The  listeners  were 
so  interested  that  they  came  several  successive  nights  for 
an  hour  or  two  to  hear  it  to  the  end.  I  mention  this  be- 
cause two  years  afterward,  when  traveling  in  the  interior, 
we  heard  this  story,  somewhat  altered  and  modified,  but 
well  told,  by  an  Arab  who  did  not  know  its  source.  We 
soon  traced  it  to  some  of  our  guests  of  that  night.  Perhaps 
some  future  collector  of  Arabian  tales  may  be  puzzled  by 
hearing  the  Oriental  version  of  this  very  unoriental  romance, 
and  may  fancy  he  has  found  the  origin  of  the  plot  of 
"Jane  Eyre,"  and  rob  the  little  imaginative  recluse  of 
Yorkshire  of  the  credit  of  her  wonderful  power  and  orig- 
inality. JEsop's  Fables,  freely  translated  in  the  same  way, 
with  the  help  of  illustrations,  gave  great  pleasure  to  our 
Arab  friends.  Our  maps  puzzled  them,  and  excited  their 
interest  and  curiosity,  and  they  had  faith  in  them  when 
they  found  that  by  the  assistance  of  a  map  of  Palestine  I, 
a  stranger,  could  tell  the  names  and  directions  of  most  of 
the  towns  and  villages  for  miles  around. 


AN  IMPORTANT   QUESTION.  117 

The  Moslem  guests  were  at  first  rather  shy,  and  hardly 
ventured  to  address  me;  for  they  are  not  in  the  habit  of 
seeing  any  women  except  their  wives,  slaves,  and  servants, 
and  they  never  see  any  Christian  women.  I  had  been 
advised  to  avoid  meeting  my  brother's  Moslem  guests  for 
the  sole  reason  that  they  seclude  their  female  relatives; 
but  we  did  not  wish  to  imitate  Oriental  exclusiveness  un- 
necessarily, and  I  found  much  to  interest  me  in  my  inter- 
course with  them.  They  always  behaved  to  me  with  re- 
spectful and  chivalrous  kindness. 

The  Levantine  ladies,  who  hide  themselves  from  Moslems 
almost  as  scrupulously  as  the  native  Arabs  do,  were  rather 
surprised,  and  they  explained  to  me  that  it  was  quite  con- 
trary to  custom  for  Moslems  to  see  females  out  of  their 
own  families,  and  that  the  laws  of  their  religion  forbade 
them  to  do  so.  I  took  the  first  opportunity  to  make 
inquiry  on  the  subject,  and  when  two  or  three  of  the 
most  intelligent  and  learned  of  our  Moslem  friends  were 
assembled  one  evening  at  our  house,  I  told  them  that  I 
had  an  important  question  to  ask  them.  I  first  reminded 
them  that  neither  the  customs  of  my  country  nor  the  voice 
of  my  conscience  forbade  me  to  see  any  of  my  fellow- 
creatures.  On  the  contrary,  I  was  taught  to  love  every 
one,  knowing  that  we  are  all  of  one  family,  the  children 
of  one  God,  and  created  by  his  will.  Then  I  said,  "Is 
there,  any  law,  which  you  regard  as  sacred  and  binding, 
forbidding  you  to  see  and  converse  with  women  out  of 
your  own  individual  families?  If  there  is  such  a  law, 
I  will  not  cause  you  to  disobey  it,  but  will  help  you  to 
keep  it  by  hiding  myself  from  you." 

They  seemed  to  be  taken  by  surprise;  but  they  clearly 
explained  and  proved  to  me  that  there  is  no  law  of  the 
kind,  and  it  is  the  law  of  custom  only  which  immures 
the  women  in  their  harems.  Mohammed  Bek  said  that 
their  women  are  now  quite  unfitted  for  society,  and  would 
not  know  how  to  conduct  themselves  in  the  presence  of 
strangers.     "If  we  gave  them  liberty  they  would  not  know 


118  DOMESTIC  LITE   IN  PALESTINE. 

how  to  use  it.  Their  heads  are  made  of  wood.  They  are 
not  like  you.  When  you  speak,  we  no  longer  remember 
that  you  are  a  girl;  we  think  we  are  listening  to  a  sheikh. 
To  live  in  the  world  knowledge  and  wisdom  are  neces- 
sary. Our  wives  and  daughters  have  neither  wisdom  nor 
knowledge.  Grive  them  wisdom,  and  we  will  give  them 
liberty." 

Satisfied  on  this  point,  I  continued  to  see  them,  and  I 
never  had  reason  to  regret  it.  I  think  that  I  gave  them 
Bome  new  ideas  on  the  capabilities  and  capacities  of  women, 
which  may  in  time  be  turned  to  account. 

Yassin  Agha,  one  of  our  most  frequent  guests,  invited 
me  to  visit  his  family.  I  went  with  my  brother.  We  were 
first  received  in  a  large  vaulted  room  by  the  Agha  and  his 
sons  and  a  few  Moslem  gentlemen,  then  the  eldest  son  was 
desired  to  conduct  me  to  the  harem,  that  part  of  the  house 
especially  occupied  by  women.  He  led  me  across  a  court, 
and  up  an  open  stairway,  into  a  large,  handsome  room 
paved  with  marble,  where  a  group  of  women  waited  to  wel- 
come me.  He  introduced  me  to  his  grandmother,  an  aged- 
looking  woman,  almost  blind,  and  to  his  own  mother,  and 
then  he  left  me.  They  wore  jackets  and  full  trowsers  made 
of  common  print.  They  led  me  into  an  inner  apartment, 
where  a  younger  wife  of  the  Agha,  gayly  decked  with  em- 
broidery, jewelry,  and  flowers,  was  seated  with  a  number 
of  childreu,  slaves,  and  servants.  The  latter  seemed  to 
occupy  almost  the  same  position  in  the  establishment  as 
their  mistresses,  but  some  of  them  were  very  dirty,  untidy, 
and  ragged.  In  an  open  brazier  in  the  middle  of  this  room 
a  charcoal  fire  was  burning,  and  a  little  child  sick  with 
fever  was  on  a  mattress  in  the  corner.  The  air  was  dry 
and  hot,  and  I  found  it  difficult  to  breathe,  especially  when 
they  all  crowded  round  me.  My  dress  was  examined  with 
curiosity,  and  if  I  had  not  gently  but  firmly  resisted,  I 
think  I  should  have  been  disrobed,  so  eager  were  they  to 
see  how  my  clothes  were  made  and  fastened.  They  patted 
me,  stroked  my  hair,  and  called  me  all  sorts  of  pet  names. 


MOHAMMED   BEK.  119 

They  asked  me  if  I  were  betrothed,  and  whether  my  brother 
had  a  harem,  and  if  he  were  fair  and  handsome.  When  I 
took  off  my  light  kid  gloves,  one  of  the  children  began  to 
cry,  saying,  "Behold,  see,  the  stranger  is  skinning  her 
hands."  Lemonade  and  sweetmeats  were  handed  to  me, 
and  coffee  was  prepared  by  a  black  slave,  who  crouched 
down  by  the  charcoal  fire.  Narghiles  and  long  pipes  were 
passed  from  one  to  another.  The  one  which  I  smoked  had 
a  very  beautiful  jeweled  mouthpiece,  sent  up  by  the  Agha 
for  my  use.  I  explained  to  them  that  I  had  learned  to 
smoke  in  their  country,  and  that  in  England  ladies  do  not 
smoke.  They  took  me  into  a  room  well  stocked  with 
lehaffs  and  mattresses,  some  of  which  were  covered  with 
silk.  They  asked  if  I  could  work,  and  were  surprised 
when  I  answered  that  I  could  make  all  my  clothes.  They 
told  me  that  nearly  all  their  dresses  were  made  by  tailors, 
and  that  their  mattresses,  lehaffs,  and  divans,  were  covered 
and  made  by  upholsterers,  so  that  they  did  very  little 
needle-work  themselves.  The  eldest  son,  who  had  been 
my  guide,  came  to  fetch  me,  and  took  me  into  a  small 
but  lofty  room,  with  palm  fronds  at  least  twelve  feet  long 
in  each  corner,  and  dates  hanging  up  in  rich  clusters  from 
the  rafters. 

I  called  afterward  on  Mohammed  Bek.  He  had  only 
one  wife,  a  pleasant  young  woman,  who,  with  her  infant 
daughter,  were  under  the  especial  duennaship  of  the  Bek's 
mother,  one  of  the  most  dignified-looking  Arab  women  I 
ever  saw. 

The  young  wife,  Miriam,  was  dressed  in  a  dark  cloth 
jacket  and  pink  cotton  trowsers.  She  was  very  much  tat- 
tooed. A  row  of  blue  dots  encircled  her  large  thick  lips, 
a  star  appeared  on  her  forehead,  and  a  little  crescent  on 
her  chin.  Her  eyebrows  were  strongly  marked,  and  her 
lashes  very  long.  At  her  side,  in  her  girdle,  she  had  a 
gold  crescent-shaped  box  or  case,  embossed  and  chased.  It 
contained  an  inscription  in  Arabic  characters,  and  she 
regarded  it  as  a  potent  charm. 


120  DOMESTIC  LIFE  IN  PALESTINE. 

Her  little  child  had  on  a  green  silk  skull-cap,  to  which 
were  fastened  coins,  strings  of  pearls,  and  a  blue  bead  to 
avert  the  effect  of  the  glance  of  an  "  evil  eye."  Broad 
bands  of  silver,  with  tinkling  bells  attached  to  them,  were 
fastened  round  her  ankles,  and  she  pattered  about  on  the 
matted  floor  with  her  little  naked  feet  to  make  them  ring. 
She  had  on  a  tight  green  silk  jacket,  and  short  full  Turk- 
ish trowsers,  and  a  small  red  shawl  for  a  girdle. 

I  liked  these  people  very  much,  and  often  went  to  see 
them.  One  day  when  I  called,  about  two  years  after  my 
first  visit,  Miriam  told  me  that  she  feared  her  husband  was 
looking  out  for  another  wife.  Some  Moslem  ladies,  who  had 
heard  the  rumor  at  the  Turkish  baths,  had  told  her.  She 
said,  "  I  have  lived  for  four  years  with  the  Bek  and  his 
mother,  and  I  have  been  very  happy,  but  I  shall  be  happy 
no  longer  if  he  brings  home  a  new  bride.  She  will  take 
his  soul  from  me.  Speak  to  him,  0  my  sister,  that  he  may 
not  take  another  wife.  He  will  listen  to  you,  for  your 
words  are  pearls  and  diamonds." 

I  ascertained  afterward  that  the  report  was  true,  for 
Mohammed  was  negotiating  a  marriage  with  a  girl  of  a 
tribe  of  the  Metwalis;  this  was,  however,  soon  afterward 
broken  off,  for  the  family  or  clan  to  which  the  Bek  be- 
longed became  involved  in  a  feud  with  the  Metwalis,  con- 
sequently the  marriage  could  not  take  place.  Mohammed 
had  never  seen  the  lady,  so  he  was  easily  consoled,  and 
Miriam  rejoiced  exceedingly. 

In  a  third  harem  which  I  visited,  I  found  four  wives, 
who  seemed  to  live  very  contentedly  together.  They  were 
kindly  treated  and  very  much  indulged,  and  were  often 
allowed  to  go — well  guarded — to  the  Turkish  baths,  and  to 
visit  other  harems. 

Their  husband.  Sheikh  Abdallah,  always  had  in  his 
establishment  the  full  allowance  of  four  wives,  and  when 
one  died  the  vacancy  was  soon  filled.  Though  still  in  the 
prime  of  life,  he  had  already  had  seven  wives.  I  ascer- 
tained from  them,  by  degrees,  that  they  held  supremacy  in 


HINT  TO   POLYGAMISTS.  121 

turn,  for  the  space  of  a  few  days  or  a  week.  The  honored 
one  is  said  to  be  "  holder  of  the  keys,"  for  during  her  tem- 
porary sway  she  is  always  in  full  dress — the  mistress  of  the 
reception-room — and  the  favored  one  of  the  lord  of  the 
harem,  while  the  rest  attend  to  the  cooking  and  household 
matters.  This  family  seemed  to  be  very  well  regulated,  and 
I  never  saw  any  signs  of  ill-feeling  between  the  wives,  al- 
though the  youngest  and  prettiest  had  no  children,  while 
the  eldest,  a  lady  of  Nablus,  had  three  sons,  and  the  two 
others,  who  came  respectively  from  Saida  and  Damascus, 
had  each  a  son  and  daughter. 

The  sheikh  always  sought  for  wives  in  various  and  far 
distant  towns.  After  marriage  the  women  rarely,  if  ever, 
came  in  contact  with  their  relatives ;  thus,  having  no  con- 
nections in  Haifa,  they  naturally  sympathized  with  each 
other  as  strangers  in  a  strange  place.  There  were  no  old 
quarrels  or  jealousies  to  revive ;  on  the  contrary,  there 
must  have  been  subjects  of  novelty  and  interest  to  com- 
municate. Perhaps  this  was  one  of  the  reasons  why  Ab- 
dallah's  harem  was  more  homelike  and  harmonious  than 
any  other  which  I  visited.* 

The  chief  room  is  long  and  narrow,  with  unglazed, 
wooden,  latticed  windows  on  three  sides  of  it.  A  raised 
divan  at  the  end  of  the  room  is  regarded  as  the  seat  of 
honor,  where  the  sheikh  always  sits.  Narrow  mattresses, 
carpeted  and  cushioned,  are  arranged  on  the  floor  close  to 
the  walls. 

*  It  seems  to  me  that  Sheikh  Abdallah  thus  carried  out,  in  its  most  extreme 
sense,  the  spirit  of  the  injunction  of  Moses,  not  to  take  a  woman's  sister  to  wife 
"  to  vex  her  in  her  lifetime." 

Abdallah  would  not  even  run  the  risk  of  marrying  any  two  members  of  one  fam- 
ily, or  even  two  girls  from  the  same  town  or  village.  He  was  shrewd  and  clever, 
and  understood  the  disadvantages  of  such  unions.  "WTien  Moses  gave  the  above  law 
he  was  legislating  for  a  people  who,  like  the  Moslems,  practiced  polygamy  and 
recognized  it  as  lawful.  He  in  his  wisdom  may  not  have  approved  of  it,  but  he 
tried  to  mitigate  its  evils  and  make  the  best  of  it.  He  had  no  doubt  often  witnessed, 
as  I  have  done,  the  quarrels,  disputes,  and  jealousies  which  arise  in  harems  where 
the  several  wives  of  one  man  are  nearly  related  to  each  other.  The  more  remote 
the  connection  or  relationship  among  the  women  in  a  harem,  the  more  chance  there 
appears  to  bo  of  peace  within  its  walls. 
11 


122  DOMESTIC  LIFE  IN  PALESTINE. 

I  had  known  this  family  about  three  years,  when,  one 
day,  as  I  sat  in  that  room,  surrounded  by  the  four  wives, 
their  children  and  slaves,  the  sheikh  himself  was  suddenly 
announced.  All  rose  up  at  his  coming.  He  took  his  seat 
by  my  side  on  the  divan.  None  of  the  women  ventured  to 
sit  in  his  presence  till  he  had  invited  them  to  do  so. 

They  all  vied  with  each  other  to  serve  him.  One  placed 
a  pillow  for  him  cozily,  another  handed  him  sherbet,  and 
the  favored  one  had  the  especial  privilege  of  preparing 
and  lighting  his  pipe.  He  spoke  very  gently  and  kindly 
to  them  all,  and  fondled  his  children  lovingly.  He  was 
dressed  in  in-door  costume,  and  wore  a  long  gown,  called 
a  ktimbaz,  made  of  white  goat's-hair,  striped  with  white 
spun  silk,  and  over  it  a  bright-blue  cloth  pelisse,  edged 
with  fur,  a  very  large  white  muslin  turban,  and  yellow 
pointed  slippers,  without  stockings. 

I  asked  him  if  he  had  any  books.  He  dispatched  one 
of  his  little  sons,  with  orders  to  bring  to  me  all  that  were 
in  the  house.  A  slave  soon  appeared  with  a  pile  of  dusty 
folios,  consisting  of  manuscript  copies  of  the.  Koran,  illu- 
minated profusely,  and  books  of  medicine  and  magic;  but 
the  favorite  volume  was  brought  by  one  of  the  wives.  It 
was  a  thick,  clumsy-looking  quarto,  and  consisted  of  careful 
and  detailed  interpretations  of  dreams  and  omens  of  all 
kinds;  in  fact,  it  was  a  manuscript  divination  dictionary. 
The  subjects  were  arranged  in  alphabetical  order,  beau- 
tifully written  in  large  red  letters,  and  the  explanations 
were  in  black  ink.  The  paper  was  so  thick,  yellow,  and 
glossy  that  I  at  first  mistook  it  for  vellum.  As  the  sheikh 
turned  over  the  leaves  of  this  book  he  said,  "Lady,  what 
was  the  dream  of  your  last  sleep?"  I  reflected  an  instant, 
and  answered,  "I  was  walking  by  the  sea-shore,  near  the 
River  Kishon,  and  was  very  tired,  when  suddenly  a  white 
horse,  ready  saddled,  rose  and  stood  before  me,  as  if 
offering  his  services;  so  I  mounted  and  rode  on,  as  if  I 
were  flying,  till  I  awoke."  The  women  cried  out,  "It  is  a 
good  dream  I"     And  the  sheikh  looked  in  the  dictionary 


DOMESTIC   TROUBLES.  123 

for  the  words  "white  horse"  and  "sea-shore."  After 
some  consideration  he  assured  me  that  my  dream  was  a 
very  good  one,  and  that,  though  great  dangers  surrounded 
me,  I  should  certainly  escape  from  them.  None  of  the 
women  could  read  a  single  letter;  hut  if  any  thing  could 
induce  them  to  learn,  I  think  it  would  be  their  desire  to 
read  that  book,  every  line  of  which  they  listened  to  most 
eagerly, 

A  tray  of  sweetmeats,  nuts,  fruit,  and  other  dishes  was 
brought  in.  The  sheikh  ate  with  me,  and  then  retired; 
for  none  of  the  women  would  eat  in  his  presence.  I  never 
saw  an  instance  of  an  Arab  woman  eating  with  men  except 
in  families  which  had  been  strongly  influenced  by  Euro- 
pean society.  These  ladies  were  all  very  clever  in  making 
preserves,  marmalade,  and  sweetmeats,  and  in  preparing 
meat  dishes,  and  seemed  to  be  very  devoted  mothers.  The 
children  looked  happy,  and  the  elder  sons  were  fine,  intel- 
ligent youths. 

In  spite  of  the  good-natured  cheerfulness  of  the  women, 
I  felt  that  there  was  something  wanting.  Only  the  mate- 
rial part  of  their  nature  was  developed,  and  developed  so 
disproportionately,  that  the  Moslems  were  right  when  they 
said  that  in  their  present  state  they  are  unfit  for  general 
society.  In  some  of  the  harems  the  women  live  very  un- 
happily, and  are  only  like  spies  on  each  other.  In  some 
cases  men  who  have  two  wives  are  obliged  also  to  have 
two  homes,  that  peace  may  be  insured.  The  majority  of 
Moslems  do  not  practice  polygamy. 

Disagreements  frequently  arise  from  jealousy  about  oiF- 
spring.  The  wife  who  has  only  daughters  looks  with 
hatred  and  envy  on  the  mother  rejoicing  over  an  infant 
boy.  I  can  fully  realize  the  passionate  despair  of  Hannah 
when  provoked  by  Peninnah,  and  the  muttered  prayer  and 
excitement  which  Eli  mistook  for  the  frenzy  of  drunk- 
enness; and  I  can  fancy  I  hear  her  at  last  triumphing 
and  exulting  over  her  son  Samuel,  in  words  of  praise  and 
prayer,  inspired  by  the  strongest  feelings  of  her  nature. 


124  DOMESTIC  LIFE  IN  PALESTINE. 

I  expected  to  find  very  large  families  in  those  houses 
where  there  were  two  or  more  wives;  but,  as  a  rule,  this 
was  not  the  case.  In  the  Jewish  and  Christian  quar- 
ters the  children  are  much  more  numerous  than  in  the 
Moslem  quarters.  The  Jews  in  Syria  are  permitted  to 
take  a  second  wife  if  the  first  has  no  hope  of  having  any 
children. 

Early  in  October,  on  a  pleasant  afternoon,  I  went  with 
my  brother  into  one  of  the  fruit-gardens  just  outside  Haifa. 
We  cautiously  made  our  way,  one  by  one,  down  a  short, 
narrow  lane  of  prickly  pears,  and  passed  a  little  mud  and 
stone  hut,  the  dwelling  of  the  gardener  and  his  family. 
They  were  Egyptians,  who  are  considered  much  more 
skillful  than  Arabs  in  the  cultivation  of  the  ground.  Fig- 
trees,  pomegranates,  almonds,  elders,  olives,  palms,  lemons, 
shaddocks — or,  as  they  are  called  in  Arabic,  "  lemun  helu," 
sweet  lemons — and  cucumbers  of  many  kinds,  flourished 
under  his  care.  However,  as  every  thing  is  sold  in  the 
market  according  to  a  tariff  regulated  by  the  Government, 
there  is  very  little  motive  or  inducement  for  emulation 
among  gardeners,  and  no  attempt  is  made  to  improve  and 
perfect  the  delicious  fruits  and  valuable  vegetables  of  the 
country — quantity,  without  regard  to  quality,  is  the  consid- 
eration of  the  Oriental  cultivator. 

Under  an  olive-tree,  in  the  middle  of  the  garden,  on  an 
old  piece  of  matting,  sat  an  aged  Arab  woman;  her  ragged 
white  linen  head-dress  was  arranged  so  as  to  shade  her 
eyes,  which  were  afflicted  with  ophthalmy.  Her  cotton 
dress  was  patched  over  and  over  again,  and  a  heavy,  striped 
abbai,  or  traveling  cloak,  was  thrown  over  her  feet.  She 
was  intently  mumbling  to  herself,  and  slipping  the  beads 
of  a  black  rosary  rapidly  through  her  long,  thin  fingers. 
Near  to  her  was  a  little  nook  made  of  piled-up  stones  and 
earth,  and  covered  with  old  matting.  It  was  not  much 
bigger  than  the  hood  of  a  bassinette,  but  it  was  evidently 
intended  to  shelter  her  head  at  night,  for  a  rolled-up  mat- 
tress and  some  heavy-wadded  quilts  were  close  to  it.     Old 


MANIAC    AMONG   THE    TOMBS.  125 

clothes  were  hanging  on  the  tree  above  her,  not  for  the 
sake  of  drying  them,  but  the  branch  was  her  clothes-peg, 
and  the  tree  her  wardrobe.  Two  basins  were  behind  the 
tree  trunk,  and  the  remains  of  a  wood-fire  between  two 
blocks  of  stone.  This  was  her  kitchen.  We  greeted  her 
with,  "  Peace  be  upon  you ;"  but  she  gave  us  only  gloomy 
answers,  saying,  "  For  me  there  is  no  peace,"  and  still  con- 
tinued fingering  her  beads,  without  raising  her  head.  She 
said  an  "evil  eye  "  had  looked  upon  her  and  had  "destroyed 
the  power"  of  her  life. 

A  pleasant  sound  of  falling  water  attracted  us  up  to  the 
large,  square,  raised,  stone  reservoir,  round  which,  seated  on 
a  low  parapet,  a  party  of  Arabs  were  smoking  and  chatting. 
Water  was  falling  with  some  force  into  this  pool,  from  a 
duct  supplied  by  large  earthenware  jars,  fixed  with  ropes, 
made  of  palm-fiber,  to  a  large  wheel.  The  wheel  was  kept 
in  motion  by  a  blindfolded  mule,  and  as  it  turned  round  it 
dipped  into  a  well,  and  the  jars  were  filled  with  water,  and 
in  rising  up  again  they  emptied  themselves  into  the  duct, 
and  so  on  again  and  again,  as  long  as  the  mule  kept  up 
its  monotonous  round,  urged  on  by  a  little  barefooted  boy, 
stick  in  hand.  A  hole  in  the  lower  part  of  the  wall  of 
the  reservoir  was  every  day  unplugged  for  a  certain  time, 
and  the  water  allowed  to  flow  into  the  little  channels  or 
furrows  which  traversed  the  beds  of  vegetables  and  encir- 
cled the  trees. 

As  we  left  the  garden,  a  donkey,  laden  with  the  red 
shells  or  rinds  of  pomegranates,  passed  us. '  I  was  surprised 
to  learn  that  the  bright  yellow  dye  used  to  stain  leather  is 
prepared  from  them. 

We  were  walking  toward  the  sands,  through  the  burial 
ground.  The  sun  had  set.  We  had  left  behind  us  at  some 
distance  all  the  evening  loungers  about  the  town-gate,  and 
all  the  smokers  by  the  well-side  and  the  garden,  when  we 
saw  advancing  toward  us,  in  the  twilight,  a  powerful-look- 
ing black  man,  girdled  with  sackcloth,  carrying  a  staff,  or 
rather  the  trunk  of  a  slender  tree,  which  still  retained  two 


126  DOMESTIC  LIFE  IN  PALESTINE. 

or  three  of  its  forked  branches.  The  man  was  tall,  but 
his  staff  was  high  above  him.  He  walked  with  an  unsteady 
gait,  and  we  soon  recognized  him  as  an  African  maniac,  of 
whom  some  of  the  Europeans  of  Haifa  had  complained  to 
the  Grovernor,  because  he  walked  in  the  streets  quite  naked ; 
in  consequence  of  this  he  had  been  turned  out  of  town. 
We  passed  him,  and  then  he  followed  close  behind  us,  mut- 
tering and  making  strange  noises.  It  was  not  very  pleasant 
to  have  such  an  attendant.  "We  turned  sharply  round  and 
faced  him,  and  then  walked  toward  the  town.  He  turned 
also,  and  preceded  us.  We  were  still  among  the  tombs; 
and,  in  the  rapidly-increasing  darkness,  it  appeared  the 
dreariest  place  imaginable — rocky  and  desolate,  with  tombs 
of  all  periods,  some  in  the  last  stages  of  decay,  falling  and 
crumbling  into  strange  shapes  and  heaps,  others  partially 
concealed  by  small,  dark,  evergreen  oaks,  and  here  and 
there  was  a  newly-whitened  sepulcher,  which  seemed  to 
shine  with  a  light  of  its  own.  The  black  man  did  not  ac- 
company us  beyond  this  domain  of  death.  When  I  looked 
back,  and  saw  him  standing  there  among  the  tombs,  sway- 
ing himself  and  his  scepter  to  and  fro,  I  could  not  help 
thinking  of  the  description,  in  the  Grospel  narrative,  of  that 
man  who  met  Christ  on  the  shores  of  the  sea  of  Galilee, 
and  "which  had  devils  long  time,  and  ware  no  clothes, 
neither  abode  in  any  house,  but  in  the  tombs."*  I  did  not 
suppose  that  the  poor  African  maniac  was  possessed  of 
devils,  but  I  thought  that  he  might  very  likely  be  seized 
with  the  spirit  of  revenge;  so  I  was  glad  to  be  out  of  his 
reach,  and  safe  within  the  gates  of  the  town. 

♦  Luke  vili,  27. 


FROM  HAIFA  TO  NAZARETH.  127 


CHAPTER  YI. 

FROM  HATFA  TO  NAZARETH. 

On  Saturday,  October  13th,  we  made  ready  for  a  trip  to 
Nazareth — Nasirah — to  meet  Mr.  Finn  there.  We  started 
at  about  three  o'clock  in  the  afternoon,  accompanied  by  our 
friend  Saleh  Sekhali,  one  kawass,  and  an  Egyptian  groom. 
We  went  out  at  the  east  gate,  crossed  the  burial-ground, 
approached  the  Carmel  range,  and  skirted  the  base  of  the 
hills,  which  are  overgrown  with  low  brushwood  and  ever- 
green oaks.  We  took  a  south-easterly  direction,  with  the 
terraced  slopes  on  our  right  hand,  and  a  marshy  plain  on 
our  left,  all  bright  with  lush-green  grass,  tall  rushes,  and 
reeds  in  full  blossom. 

We  met  strings  of  camels  bringing  grain  from  the  Haur9,n, 
for  the  merchants  in  Haifa  and  'Akka,  The  peasants  and 
camel-drivers  were  all  fully  armed,  and  seemed  as  ready  for 
attack  as  for  defense. 

Presently  we  passed  a  more  peaceful-looking  party,  con- 
sisting of  a  family  belonging  to  the  next  village.  First 
came  a  young  girl,  wearing  a  rather  short  open  dress  of 
old  striped  crimson  silk,  made  like  a  very  scanty  dressing- 
gown,  a  long  white  shirt  of  very  coarse  heavy  linen,  and 
a  shawl-girdle  fastened  low.  A  purple  scarf  sheltered  her 
head  and  face — all  but  her  large  dark  eyes,  and  fell  over 
her  shoulders.  She  walked  barefoot,  and  carried  her  yellow 
shoes  in  her  hands.  A  woman  with  an  infant  son  in  her 
arms  followed,  riding  on  a  large  white  donkey,  which  was 
urged  on  by  a  man  who  walked  close  behind..  We  ex- 
changed greetings,  and  the  strangers  said  to  us,  "  May 
Allah  lead  you  in  the  path  that  is  straight!"  In  about 
forty  minutes  we  reached  the  spring  of  Sa'adeh,  which  sup- 


128  DOMESTIC  LIFE  IN  PALESTINE. 

plies  one  of  the  tributary  streams  of  the  Kishon.  It  gushes 
out  of  a  deep,  cavernous  recess  in  the  steep  cliflf,  and  forms 
a  large,  spreading,  natural  reservoir,  where  many  kinds  of 
ferns  are  fostered.  Saleh  told  me  that  Arab  poets  call  a 
stream  *'  a  daughter  of  the  hills."  He  led  the  way  where 
he  knew  there  were  firm  stepping-stones,  and  we  splashed 
through  water,  in  some  parts  about  two  feet  deep,  guiding 
our  horses  between  masses  of  rock  and  great  stone  bowlders, 
surrounded  by  tall  trees  and  water-plants.  Our  progress 
was  somewhat  impeded  by  a  number  of  goats  and  cattle, 
which  were  being  led  to  the  fountain. 

Just  beyond  this  we  saw,  high  up  on  the  hills  on  our 
right,  a  picturesque-looking  Moslem  village,  called  Refr- 
esh-Sheik.  On  the  flat  roofs  of  its  white  stone  huts  there 
were  little  Summer-houses,  made  of  tree  branches,  long 
palm  fronds,  and  reeds.  Most  of  the  villagers  in  this  dis- 
trict make  these  pleasant  shelters  in  the  Summer-time.  It 
reminded  me  of  the  Jewish  Feast  of  Tabernacles. 

Busy  groups  were  on  the  thrashing-floors.  A  man  was 
winnowing  a  heap  of  wheat,  by  lifting  up  as  much  as  he 
could  at  a  time,  and  as  he  let  it  fall  gradually,  the  wind 
carried  away  the  chaff.  We  lingered  a  moment  by  the  old 
stone  well  in  the  olive  grove ;  near  to  it  we  saw  a  number 
of  strong  masculine-looking  laughing  girls.  In  a  few  min- 
utes we  came  to  the  little  village  of  Ain-jur,  with  palm- 
trees  and  flourishing  gardens  round  it.  At  this  point  we 
turned  away  from  the  hills,  and  made  our  way  across  the 
fertile  plain. 

A  serpentine  line  of  verdure  marks  the  course  of  the 
Kishon.  We  approached  it  where  it  flows  between  steep 
banks  of  rich  loamy  soil,  nearly  fifteen  feet  high,  bordered 
with  fine  oleanders,  wild  lupins,  tall  and  blue,  and  St. 
John's  wort,  covered  with  golden  flowers.  There  was  not 
much  water  flowing,  for  there  had  not  been  any  rain  in 
Galilee  for  a  long  time ;  but  the  muddy  bed,  which  at  this 
spot  is  about  twenty  feet  broad,  seemed  to  me  as  if  it  would 
swallow  us  up. 


"daughters  of  sound."  12S 

I  have  seen  this  stream  swollen  and  rapid,  after  heavy 
rains,  when  the  Winter  torrents  of  Galilee  and  Carmel  flow 
into  it;  then  it  is  a  river  "with  waters  to  swim  in,  a  river 
that  can  not  be  passed  over;"  and  I  can  well  imagine  the 
hosts  of  Sisera,  his  chariots  and  horses,  struggling  there; 
and  how  "  the  River  Kishon  swept  them  away,  that  ancient 
river,  the  River  Kishon."  Judges  v,  21.  We  crossed  safely, 
and  rode  on,  due  east,  to  traverse  some  rounded  hills, 
crowned  with  evergreen  oaks,  hawthorns,  and  syringas.  I 
have  seen  them  in  the  Spring-time  full  of  blossom,  when 
the  ground  which  they  shelter  is  carpeted  with  hyacinths, 
cyclamen,  anemones,  and  narcissus.  This  is  one  of  the 
most  extensive  oak  woods  in  Galilee,  the  oak  leaves  are 
small  and  prickly,  and  the  acorns  large  and  long. 

Here  cheetahs  are  sometimes  captured  and  killed — for  the 
sake  of  their  skins,  which  are  made  into  saddle-cloths — 
foxes  have  their  holes,  and  hyenas,  cats,  jackals,  and  wild 
boars  abound.  The  town  Arabs  are  by  no  means  enthusi- 
astic hunters.  A  Nimrod  is  rarely  met  with  now,  except 
among  the  European  colonists. 

In  a  little  open  glade  we  dismounted,  and  rested  just 
outside  the  solitary  tent  of  a  peasant,  while  we  took  some 
refreshing  fruit,  then  we  hastened  on  again.  These  hills 
are  renowned  for  echoes,  which  are  called  by  Arabs,  "  the 
daughters  of  sound."  My  companions  brought  them  forth, 
by  firing  their  guns  and  shouting,  and  they  made  the  forest 
ring  with  their  songs ;  at  its  eastern  extremity  the  trees 
grow  so  closely  together,  and  the  branches  hang  so  low, 
that  I  had  to  ride  cautiously,  to  avoid  sharing  the  fate  of 
Absalom.  When  we  came  out  of  the  wood,  we  found  our- 
selves on  the  brow  of  a  high,  steep,  and  terraced  declivity. 
The  smooth  plain  of  Esdraelon  Minor  was  immediately 
below  us,  one  half  of  it  shaded  by  the  hills  on  which  we 
stood,  and  the  other  half,  as  well  as  the  opposite  hills,  were 
in  bright  sunlight.  The  little  village  of  Nain  was  pointed 
out  to  me  far  away  on  the  right. 

We  descended  by   a  pleasant  winding  road,  the   trees 


130  DOMESTIC  LIFE  IN  PALESTINE. 

were  more  and  more  scattered,  and  at  the  foot  of  the  hill 
only  low  brushwood  grew. 

"We  cantered  across  the  plain,  and  ascended  a  low  rounded 
hill,  on  which  stood  a  village,  literally  formed  of  dust  and 
ashes.  The  mud-hovels  looked  like  dust-heaps,  and  their 
interiors  were  little  better  than  dust-holes ;  but  out  of 
these  abodes  heaps  of  clothing  crawled,  scarcely  looking 
like  human  beings,  till  they  slowly  rose,  assuming  forms 
of  strange  grace  and  dignity,  and  gazed  at  us  with  serious 
and  untroubled  eyes.  We  saw  a  group  of  old  women 
leaning  over  a  square  hole  dug  in  the  ground.  Saleh 
told  me  that  this  was  the  village  oven.  The  bottom  of  it 
glowed  with  red  heat.  The  fuel,  composed  of  peat  and 
dried  dung,*  was  partially  covered  with  stones,  upon  which 
thin  flat  loaves  are  thrown  and  quickly  baked.  When 
quite  new,  the  bread  thus  prepared  is  crisp  outside  and 
rather  soft  within ;  but,  when  a  day  old,  it  is  of  the 
consistency  of  leather,  and  very  indigestible.  The  women, 
in  their  dusky  vails  and  dresses,  crouching  round  that 
primitive  oven,  reminded  me  of  the  incantation  scene  in 
"Macbeth."  The  children  of  the  place  were  beautiful, 
though  bronzed  by  the  sun,  and  smeared  with  dust  and 
dirt.  Some  were  clothed  in  rags  of  all  colors,  but  the 
majority  were  quite  naked. 

We  looked  back  across  the  plain ;  the  sun  had  gone 
down  behind  the  wooded  hills,  and  red  watch-fires  gleamed 
here  and  there  on  the  terraces  and  in  the  plain — guides 
and  beacons  for  the  shepherds  and  the  fellalnn.  Presently 
a  party  of  wild-looking  Arabs  met  us.  Their  leader  was 
the  son  of  a  cavalry  ofl&cer,  who  had  just  been  dismissed 
from  Turkish  service.  He  and  his  followers  were  desperate 
fellows,  noted  for  deeds  of  daring.  They  saluted  us,  and 
said  that  they  had  come  on  purpose  to  meet  and  escort 
us  to  Nazareth.  This  was  quite  an  impromptu  invention, 
for   no    one   but   Mr.   Finn   knew  of  our  intention   to   go 

*  See  Ezekiel  iv,  16 :  "  Lo  I  I  have  given  thee  cow's  dung,  and  thou  shalt  prepare 
thy  bread  therewith." 


HILL-COUNTRY  OF  NAZARETH.  131 

to  Nazareth ;  however,  they  turned  and  accompanied  us. 
They  looked  very  picturesque.  Their  large,  heavy  cloaks 
were  made  of  camel's-hair,  with  broad  brown  and  white 
stripes.  On  their  heads  they  wore  red  and  yellow  kefias — 
fringed  shawls — put  on  like  hoods,  and  fastened  round 
the  crown  with  double  ropes,  made  of  camel's-hair.  Their 
spears,  adorned  with  ostrich-feathers,  were  twelve  or  thir- 
teen feet  long. 

We  paused  at  a  spring,  festooned  with  ferns  and  bord- 
ered with  mossy  stones,  and  alighted  for  a  few  minutes 
to  water  our  horses.  When  Saleh  was  on  the  point  of 
remounting,  his  mare  suddenly  started  off,  and  soon  dis- 
appeared in  the  dusky  distance.  Saleh  was  quite  discon- 
certed; for  the  animal  was  a  favorite  one,  and  so  docile 
that  it  was  never  considered  necessary  to  tether  her.  She 
was  accustomed  to  follow  her  master,  and  to  obey  his  call 
like  a  dog.  Saleh  remembered  that  the  village  of  which 
his  mare  was  a  native  was  about  a  quarter  of  an  hour's 
distance  from  the  spring,  and  this  explained  the  cause  of 
the  flight.  He  immediately  mounted  a  horse  belonging  to 
one  of  the  Arabs  and  galloped  away.  He  actually  found 
his  mare  standing  quietly  in  the  court  of  the  house  in 
which  she  had  been  born,  surrounded  by  her  former  owners, 
who  were  marveling  greatly.  Saleh  rejoined  us,  and  we 
soon  entered  the  hill-country  which  encircles  Nazareth. 
Our  volunteer  attendants  rode  now  before  and  now  behind, 
singing  and  shouting.  Higher  and  higher  we  rose,  meeting 
the  fresh  mountain  air.  It  was  so  dark  that  I  could  only 
just  perceive  the  figure  immediately  before  me,  and  the 
loose  white  stones  which  clattered  under  my  horse's  feet, 
and  the  smooth  slabs  of  rock  over  which  he  every  now 
and  then  slipped  and  stumbled. 

For  about  an  hour  I  rode  on  silently,  hardly  knowing 
where  I  was  going,  but  following  in  faith  the  steps  of  my 
leader.  I  was  roused  from  a  reverie  by  the  words,  "We 
are  entering  the  olive-groves  of  Nazareth."  I  could  just 
distinguish  a  range  of  hills,  forming  an  amphitheater  in 


132  DOMESTIC  LIFE  IN  PALESTINE. 

the  shape  of  a  horseshoe,  and  the  extent  of  the  town 
could  be  traced  by  the  lights  gleaming  from  the  windows 
of  the  houses  which  thickly  dotted  the  valley  below,  and 
were  grouped  here  and  there  on  the  hill-sides.  The  Arabs 
keep  lamps  burning  in  their  rooms  all  night  to  chase  away 
evil  spirits.  We  descended  abruptly  between  hedges  of 
prickly  pears,  greeted  by  loudly-barking  dogs,  and  inhaling 
a  close,  suffocating  odor  of  dust  and  decayed  vegetables. 
The  word,  "Hold  your  horse's  head  well  up,  for  it  is  very 
steep  here,"  prepared  me  now  and  then  for  a  jerk  down 
some  rocky  ledge  or  dusty  declivity.  At  last  we  were 
safe  in  the  valley ;  our  escort  disappeared ;  and  we  were 
led  to  the  roomy  but  half-deserted  house  of  Saleh,  where 
he  had  resided  till  the  death  of  his  father,  a  few  months 
previous,  and  where  his  brother  and  young  sisters  still 
lived.  Two  empty  rooms  were  soon  swept  and  garnished 
by  men  and  boys,  who  brought  a  supply  of  matting, 
mattresses,  cushions,  and  pillows  from  another  part  of 
the  house,  and  we  made  ourselves  at  home.  While  we 
took  supper,  Saleh  told  me  that  his  father,  the  head  of 
a  large  family,  had  during  his  lifetime  accumulated  a  con- 
siderable sum  of  money,  which  he  kept  in  a  secret  place, 
probably  buried.  It  was  expected  that  he  would  some 
day  tell  his  heirs  where  the  treasure  was  concealed,  but 
unhappily  he  was  on  a  journey  from  Tiberias  "when  the 
Angel  of  Death  met  him."  He  was  surrounded  only  by 
servants  and  strangers,  to  whom  he  could  not  intrust  the 
important  communication,  and  there  was  no  time  to  send 
for  his  sons;  so  he  died,  and  the  secret  died  with  him. 
Saleh,  the  eldest  son,  caused  careful  search  to  be  made  in 
and  under  the  premises,  but  up  to  this  time  the  property 
had  not  been  found. 

It  is  a  very  common  practice,  especially  in  the  interior, 
to  secrete  jewels  and  gold  in  this  way,  and  ancient  deposits 
of  great  intrinsic  value — and  still  greater  interest  as  works 
of  art  and  illustrations  of  history — are  sometimes  found. 

The  law  of  treasure-trove  in  Palestine,  I  believe,  awards 


NECROMANCY  AND   CLAIRVOYANCE.  133 

one-third  to  the  finder,  one-third  to  the  owner  of  the 
ground  on  which  the  property  is  found,  and  one-third  to 
the  Government. 

There  are  certain  men  who  spend  nearly  all  their  lives 
in  seeking  for — hanuz — hidden  treasures.  Some  of  them 
become  maniacs,  desert  their  families,  and  though  they  arc 
often  so  poor  that  they  beg  their  way  from  door  to  door, 
and  from  village  to  village,  they  believe  themselves  to  be 
rich.  There  are  others,  who  are  called  "sa/im" — necro- 
mancers— who  seem  to  work  systematically,  and  have  a 
very  curious  method  of  prosecuting  the  search. 

They  select  certain  sensitive  individuals,  who  are  believed 
to  have  the  power  of  seeing  objects  concealed  in  the  earth, 
or  elsewhere ;  but  the  faculty  is  only  active  when  roused  by 
the  influence  of  necromantic  ceremonies,  which  are  under- 
stood by  the  professional  treasure-seeker.  He  properly 
prepares  the  medium,  and  calls  into  full  activity  the  vision- 
ary power ;  then,  in  obedience  to  his  command,  the  hiding- 
places  of  treasures  are  said  to  be  minutely  described.  On 
being  restored  to  the  normal  state,  the  medium  does  not 
remember  any  of  the  revelations  which  may  have  been 
made.  The  practice  of  this  art  is  considered  "haram" — 
that  is,  unlawful^  and  is  carried  on  secretly  and  not  extens- 
ively. Those  people  of  whom  I  made  inquiries  on  the 
subject  spoke  with  fear  and  trembling,  and  mysteriously 
whispered  their  explanations. 

I  knew  an  Arab  family,  of  which  all  the  female  members 
are  believed  to  be  seers  (clairvoyants?).  They  are  all  nerv- 
ous and  excitable  to  a  high  degree,  and  one  of  them  is 
slightly  deranged  in  intellect.* 

Till   a   late  hour   visitors  flocked  in  to  see  us,  for   our 

*  Does  this  system  of  the  Sahiri  throw  any  light  on  the  history  of  the  "  Zuhuris  " 
of  Spain,  who  were  said  to  have  the  power  of  seeing  into  the  recesses  of  the  earth  ? 
The  name  is  evidently  of  Eastern  derivation,  for   "Zahur"  is  the  Arabic  for 

In  the  first  volume  of  "  The  Cradle  of  the  Twin  Giants,  Science  and  History," 
by  Rev.  Henry  Christmas,  page  344,  the  following  passages  occur : 

"Debrio,  in  his  '  Disquisitiones  Magicse,'  edition  of  Mayence,  1606,  says  there  is 
a  class  of  men  in  Spain  who  are  called  Zuhuris.    \Mien  he  was  staying  at  Madrid, 


134  DOMESTIC   LIFE  IN  PALESTINE. 

arrival  was  soon  known  throughout  the  Christian  quarter. 
First  came  Jirius  el  Yakub,  with  his  fat,  burly  figure,  his 
crisp  gray  beard  and  twinkling  eyes  shining  from  under  a 
large  shawl  turban.  He  is  Mr.  Finn's  agent  for  Nazareth, 
and  is  very  proud  of  his  office,  and  of  the  few  words  of 
English  which  he  can  speak. 

Saleh's  pretty  little  sister,  "  Jalily" — that  is,  '■'•the  Glori- 
ous'' — led  me  to  the  room  prepared  for  me.  Her  age  was 
about  eleven,  and  her  face  the  fairest  I  had  seen  in  Pales- 
tine. It  was  a  pure  oval,  with  a  straight  nose,  small,  well- 
defined  lips,  long  dark  lashes,  and  delicately-penciled  eye- 
brows. The  edges  of  her  eyelids  were  strongly  tinged  with 
kohl,  which  gave  strange  power  to  large,  melancholy  gray 
eyes.  Her  finger-nails  were  slightly  stained  with  henna, 
and  her  toe-nails  deeply  dyed.  She  wore  a  violet-colored 
muslin  kerchief  folded  over  her  soft,  brown  hair,  crossed 
under  her  chin,  and  tied  in  a  bow  at  the  top  of  her  head. 
Her  dress  was  green,  edged  with  yellow  braid,  and  open  at 
the  throat,  showing  a  necklace  of  silver  and  coral  ornaments. 

(I  think  that  green  is  a  favorite  color  among  Christian 
Arabs  now,  because,  till  lately,  they  were  forbidden  to  wear 
it,  for  the  Moslems  regard  it  as  their  sacred  color.) 

I  awoke,  and  rose  early,  for  a  half-opened  door,  which  I 
had  not  noticed  by  the  dim  lamp  of  the  previous  night, 
attracted  my  attention.  Just  within  it  were  three  narrow 
steps,  each  higher  than  my' knee.  I  climbed  up,  and  turn- 
ing sharply  round,  groped  my  way  up  three  other  steps, 
still  more  steep,  and  then  stumbled  against  a  low,  cracked 
wooden  door,  which  I  unfastened  with  difficulty.  When  it 
burst  open  I  found  that  it  led  to  a  terraced  roof,  to  which 
there  was  no  other  access.  The  roof  was  high,  and  com- 
manded a  beautiful  view  of  the  town,  with  its  mosque  and 

in  1575,  a  boy  of  that  kind  was  there ;  these  persons  were  said  to  be  able  to  spy  out 
what  was  concealed  in  the  earth,  subterraneous  waters,  metals,  hidden  treasure, 
or  dead  bodies.  The  thing  was  generally  known,  and  its  possibility  believed  in, 
not  only  by  poets  but  by  philosophers." 

"Wo  quote  the  following,  concerning  a  lady,  from  the  Mercure  de  France,  of  1728: 
*  She  perceives  what  is  hid  in  the  earth,  distinguishing  stones,  sand,  springs,  to  the 
depth  of  thirty  or  forty  fathoms.' " 


LATIN   CHURCH  AT  NAZARETH.       ^  135 

minarets,  surrounded  by  tall,  dark  cypress-trees,  and  the 
convent  buildings  conspicuous  in  tbe  Christian  quarter. 
The  mists  were  gradually  passing  away  from  the  valley  and 
floating  up  the  hill-sides.  The  houses  are  of  white  lime- 
stone, square  and  flat-roofed  j  they  look  clean  and  cheerful. 
The  ancient  "  city  was  built  on  a  hill,"  but  modern  Naza- 
reth, which  is  unwalled,  has  gradually  crept  into  the  val- 
ley, at  the  bottom  of  which  all  the  newest  and  largest 
houses  are  erected. 

Little  Jalily  was  in  an  open  court  below  with  some 
women  servants,  who  were  making  bread  and  chopping 
meat.  She  saw  me,  and  ran  up  to  greet  me,  saying,  "  May 
the  day  be  white  to  you !"  then  she  taught  me  the  usual 
answer,  "  May  it  be  to  you  as  milk !" 

It  was  Sunday.  We  went  to  the  Latin  Church  of  the 
Annunciation.  We  made  our  way  through  the  nave,  which 
is  large  and  lofty.  One  side  was  crowded  with  men  and 
boys  bareheaded,  and  the  other  side  occupied  by  women, 
kneeling  on  the  marble  pavement  in  rows.  Their  foreheads 
and  the  lower  parts  of  their  faces  were  quite  concealed  by 
folds  of  muslin  and  linen.  As  we  passed  by,  they  with 
one  accord  raised  their  heads  for  a  moment,  and  their 
bright  dark  eyes  flashed  upon  us  from  under  their  kohl- 
tinged  lids  like  a  gleam  of  lightning,  then  they  bent  their 
heads  low  and  resumed  their  devotions. 

The  Latin  Patriarch  of  Jerusalem  was  confirming  a 
number  of  children.  Mass  was  celebrated,  with  more  than 
usual  pomp,  by  some  illustrious  ecclesiastics  and  visitors 
from  Rome.  The  organ  was  well  touched  by  one  of  the 
monks,  and  the  chanting  was  magnificent. 

When  this  was  over,  we  went  down  to  see  the  Grotto  of 
the  Virgin.  It  is  underground,  just  beneath  the  high  altar. 
On  the  broad  stone  stairs  leading  to  it,  a  troop  of  little  Arab 
girls,  belonging  to  the  convent  school,  were  seated.  They 
looked  full  of  animation  and  childish  mischief,  and  the 
nuns  or  sisters  of  mercy,  in  whose  charge  they  were,  had 
great  difficulty  in  keeping  them  in  order.     The   children 


136  DOMESTIC  LIFE   IN    PALESTINE. 

were  dressed  in  native  costume.  The  nuns,  who  are  very 
Buperior,  lady-like  French  women,  wore  white  caps,  with 
broad  plain  muslin  frills,  and  little  black  hoods  over  them, 
and  the  plainest  of  plain  black  stuff  dresses.  They  looked 
very  quaint,  but  cheerful  and  lovable.  They  are  most  per- 
severing in  their  schemes  for  proselytizing  and*  educating 
Arab  girls.  Some  of  their  pupils  speak  a  little  French, 
but  it  is  very  difl&cult  to  secure  the  regular  attendance  of 
children  at  the  schools.     They  are  sad  little  truants. 

One  of  the  sisters  is  a  careful  doctor  and  skillful  sur- 
geon, and  thus  obtains  great  influence  over  the  natives, 
to  whom  she  distributes  medicines  supplied  from  France. 
A  Hakim  —  a  doctor  of  medicine,  male  or  female — can 
gain  admittance  and  respect  almost  any  where.  A  Romish 
missionary  staff  is  never  considered  complete  without  a 
good  physician. 

The  children,  marshaled  by  the  Sisters  of  Mercy,  made 
way  for  us,  and  we  went  down  to  the  Altar  of  the  Virgin. 
It  is  of  pure  white  alabaster,  laboriously  and  elaborately 
carved,  but  badly  designed,  rococo.  Sweet  basil  bloomed 
all  round  it,  and  tapers  burned  there  brightly.  Near  it  is 
a  part  of  a  granite  column,  said  by  a  monkish  tradition — 
which  is  indorsed  by  the  Church — to  be  a  fragment  of  the 
very  room  in  which  Mary  stood  when  the  angel  G-abriel 
appeared  to  her.  The  room  itself  was  conveyed  by  a 
miracle  to  Dalmatia,  and  afterward  to  Loretta,  where  thou- 
sands of  pilgrims  visit  it!  The  kitchen  of  the  Virgin  is 
Btill  shown  under  the  church  at  Nazareth.  "Women  now 
and  then  came  down  the  steps  and  prostrated  themselves, 
beating  their  breasts,  and  repeating  Ave  Marias,  in  Arabic, 
as  rapidly  as  possible;  then  they  kissed  three  spots  indi- 
cated by  ornament  on  the  pavement  under  the  altar.  The 
walls  of  the  church  are  hung  with  painted  linen,  which 
produces  exactly  the  effect  of  fine  old  tapestry,  and  I  did 
not  discover  that  it  was  only  imitation  till  I  handled  it. 
In  the  court-yard  of  the  convent  there  are  several  frag- 
ments of  ancient  stone  carving  introduced  in  the  modern 


NAZARENE   COSTUMES.  137 

walls  *  We  went  to  the  Protestant  Mission-House,  and 
heard  service  in  Arabic.  Some  pretty  children  and  a 
few  intelligent-looking  men  attended  it.  The  pastor  and 
school-teachers  are  Germans,  but  connected  with  the  An- 
glican Church. 

All  the  Latins  of  Nazareth  were  in  their  gayest  dresses 
that  day  to  do  honor  to  the  visit  of  their  Patriarch.  We 
met  him  walking  with  a  little  troop  of  monks  and  priests. 
He  is  a  most  remarkable-looking  man,  and  wears  a  pale 
beard,  at  least  half  a  yard  long,  parted  in  the  middle. 
His  broad-brimmed  hat,  nearly  three-quarters  of  a  yard 
in  diameter,  is  trimmed  with  artificial  colored  flowers, 
and  glossy  green  leaves  of  metallic  luster.  The  people 
crowded  round  him  to  kiss  his  hands  and  to  secure  his 
blessing. 

The  usual  dress  of  the  men  of  Nazareth  is  bright  and 
cheerful-looking,  consisting  of  a  sort  of  long  dressing-gown, 
made  of  a  mixture  of  silk  and  cotton,  in  patterns  of  very 
narrow  stripes,  commonly  either  red  and  purple,  violet  and 
yellow,  green  and  blue,  or  purple  and  white.  This  is 
girdled  with  a  shawl,  or  a  broad  leather  belt,  lined  and 
stitched,  with  pockets  and  purses  made  in  it.  Red  and 
yellow  kefias — shawls  with  long  knotted  fringes — are  worn 
in  the  town  as  turbans,  but  are  generally  put  on  like  hoods 
for  traveling. 

The  women,  who  are  very  handsome,  but  rather  bold- 
looking,  use  a  great  deal  of  kohl  for  their  eyelids;  they 
tattoo  their  arms  profusely  and  their  faces  slightly.  Their 
head-dress  is  very  peculiar;  it  is  a  tight-fitting  cap,  made 
of  cloth  or  Jinen,  with  a  thick,  firmly-padded  roll,  one  or 
two  inches  in  diameter,  round  the  front,  just  covering  the 
highest  part  of  the  head,  and  fastened  with  strings,  but 
not  quite  meeting  under  the  chin.  To  this  roll  silver 
coins  are  sewed,  as  close  together  as  it  is  possible  to 
place  them,  except  that  a  little  space  is  left  at  the  top 

*  They  have  been  engniTed  in  the  "  Builder  "—No.  878— from  drawings  which  I 
made  in  the  year  1858. 

12 


138  DOMESTIC  LIFE   IN   PALESTINE. 

of  the  head,  and  the  coins  fall,  lapping  one  on  the  other, 
down  each  side  of  the.  face,  and  a  little  below  the  chin ; 
at  a  distance  it  looks  like  a  bonnet-front.  Women  wear 
coins  as  large  as  crowns  or  half-crowns;  children  generally 
have  small  ones,  about  the  size  of  shillings.  Muslin  shawls 
or  vails,  of  various  colors  or  black,  are  folded  across  the 
forehead  and  over  the  lower  part  of  the  face;  so  that, 
out  of  doors,  the  eyes  only  are  exposed.  When  in-doors, 
the  lower  folds  are  slipped  below  the  chin;  but  the  fore- 
head is  nearly  always  concealed,  except  by  very  young 
girls.  They  wear  loose  trowsers,  white  shirts,  and  long 
dresses,  open  entirely  in  front,  made  of  striped  cotton  or 
Damascus  silk,  and  girdled  below  the  waist.  ^ 

I  went  to  Nazareth  several  times,  and  visited  many  of 
the  Christian  women  in  their  homes.  I  found,  generally, 
a  great  want  of  order  and  cleanliness  among  them.  They 
are  very  proud  of  their  town,  and  are  constantly  invoking 
«  El  Sit  Miriam  "— "  the  Lady  Mary."  Their  faith  in,  and 
reverence  for,  relics  is  unbounded.  In  all  their  rooms  I 
saw  holy  pictures,  little  images,  and  small  crystal  or  glass 
cases  of  fragments  of  bones  and  rags.  Kings  are  constantly 
worn  as  charms. 

I  asked  a  little  child,  who  had  once  visited  Haifa, 
whether  she  preferred  Haifa  and  the  beautiful  sea,  or 
N^sirah.  She  answered  directly,  "  Haifa  is  not  a  holy  place ; 
but  this  town  is  holy ;  our  Lady  Mary  lived  here,  and 
Christ,  and  Joseph."  But  although  Nazareth  is  reckoned 
a  holy  place,  it  is  by  no  means  remarkable  for  its  morality. 
In  this  respect  it  strikingly  contrasts  with  Bethlehem, 
where  the  fathers  and  husbands  are  said  to  be  severe  and 
rigid  disciplinarians,  and  where  dishonor  is  punished  with 
certain  death.  Nazareth  had  not  a  very  good  reputation  in 
the  time  of  Christ,  and  it  does  not  appear  to  have  improved. 

I  find  that  the  younger  girls  are  beginning  to  dispense 
with  the  coin  head-dresses.  They  adopt,  instead,  the  more 
simple  red  tarbush  and  mundil.  I  expect  that  soon  these 
curious  and  weighty  ornaments  will  only  be  found  in  the 


NAZARENE   RESIDENCES.  139 

smaller  towns  and  villages  of  Galilee.  Some  silver  anklets 
were  shown  to  me,  and  described  as  "old-fashioned,"  but 
plain  bracelets  of  silver,  gold,  or  glass,  are  universally  worn. 
I  purchased  one,  formed  of  a  twist  of  thick  silver,  with  a 
very  broad,  clumsily-made,  jeweled  ring  attached  to  it  by 
a  chain,  also  of  wrought  silver.  The  ring  was  intended  to 
be  worn  on  the  fore-finger.  One  of  my  Nazarene  friends 
told  me  that  only  the  fellahin  would  wear  any  thing  so  bar- 
barous and  old-fashioned. 

The  change  which  is  gradually  being  made  here  in  the 
costume  of  the  women  does  not  depend  on  direct  European 
or  priestly  influence,  but  simply  on  fashions  introduced  by 
settlers  and  visitors  from  other  Oriental  towns,  especially 
Haifa.  The  display  in  the  bazars  of  jewelry  and  silk- 
tasseled  caps  from  Stamboul,  and  colored  musliiT  mundils 
from  European  Turkey  and  Switzerland  is  accelerating  the 
change.     The  supply  creates  a  demand. 

On  Monday,  the  15th,  I  called,  with  my  brother  and 
Saleh,  on  Luis  Khalil,  a  wealthy  native  of  Nazareth,  who 
had  lately  built  a  handsome  house  of  hewn  stone.  He  had 
just  returned  from  a  trip  to  Marseilles,  where  he  had  been 
purchasing  furniture  for  it.  The  terraces,  courts,  and  cor- 
ridors were  tastefully  bordered  with  beds  of  roses,  pinks, 
and  sweet  basil,  edged  with  broad  stone  copings.  The 
floors  were  of  inlaid  marble,  black  and  white.  The  surface 
of  the  walls  of  the  inner  courts  was  very  much  decorated 
with  rudely-carved,  round  paterae,  of  interlacing  designs, 
in  low  relief.  Over  the  doors  and  windows,  and  in  other 
prominent  positions,  English-made  willow-pattern  cheese- 
plates  were  introduced,  imbedded  in  stucco,  as  encaustic 
tiles  might  be.  The  owner  of  the  house  called  my  atten- 
tion to  this  novel  application  of  cheese-plates.  He  told  me 
that  he  had  himself  designed  the  house  and  its  decorations. 
The  new  European  furniture  was  almost  as  singularly  dis- 
posed of  as  the  willow-pattern  plates  were.  His  unsophisti- 
cated wife  and  daughters  marveled  exceedingly  at  some  of 
his  purchases  in  Marseilles,  and  seemed  rather  more  per- 


140  -^      DOMESTIC  LIFE  IN   PALESTINE. 

plexed  than  pleased  by  them.  His  drawing-room,  which 
was  something  like  a  French  salon^  with  its  mirrors  and 
marble  tables,  was  frescoed  by  a  native  of  Nazareth,  who 
had  been  tutored  and  employed  by  the  Franciscan  monks 
in  church  mural  decoration.  On  the  panels  of  the  doors 
he  had  painted  groups  of  flowers,  very  carefully  and  labori- 
ously ;  but  they  did  not  produce  a  good  effect. 

Oiir  host  was  the  great  man  of  his  community  after  this 
trip  to  Marseilles,  and,  owing  to  his  wealth  and  this  famous 
journey,  was  for  a  time  reckoned  as  a  prophet,  even  in  his 
own  country.  But,  notwithstanding  the  comparative  grand- 
eur of  his  salon^  those  rooms  of  the  house  occupied  by  the 
women,  and  the  cooking-places,  were  as  untidy  and  incon- 
venient as  the  poorest  establishments  in  the  town.  He 
was  dressed  in  a  suit  of  fine  black  cloth — full  Turkish 
trowsers  and  tight  jacket — a  shawl  girdle  and  polished 
boots — a  small,  red,  cloth  tarbiish,  with  a  muslin  kerchief 
over  it,  fastened  smoothly  round  his  forehead.  He  wore 
a  gold  chain,  as  massive  as  an  alderman's,  outside  his  dress, 
and  several  rings  on  his  fingers.  His  wife,  however,  re- 
tains her  Nazareth  costume  intact,  and  evidently  does  not 
approve  of  innovations. 

The  Turkish  Governor  of  the  town  called  while  we  were 
there.  He  confidentially  told  my  brother  that  the  people 
of  Nazareth  were  so  proud  and  daring  that  he  could  do 
nothing  with  them. 

We  rode  out  presently,  in  a  northerly  direction,  to  meet 
Mr.  Finn.  Our  host  joined  us,  and  a  large  party  followed, 
including  the  Governor  on  a  chestnut  charger,  decked  with 
purple  trappings  adorned  with  mother-of-pearl.  After  a 
pleasant  ride,  we  met  the  Consular  party.  By  sunset  their 
tents  were  pitched,  and  the  English  flag  was  waving  over 
them  in  a  pleasant  olive-grove,  just  outside  the  town. 

The  next  day  Mr.  Finn  invited  us  to  accompany  him  to 
Mount  Tabor.  We  started  at  noon.  It  was  oppressively 
hot.  Gently,  and  almost  silently,  we  rode  toward  the  east, 
over  hills   sweet  with  wild   thyme,  and  dark  with  thorny 


MOUNT    TABOR.  141 

bushes — through  valleys  green  with  fennel,  or  rugged  with 
rocks  overgrown  with  gray  lichens  and  amber-colored  moss. 
Now  and  then  we  passed  a  clump  of  leafless  bushes,  every 
branch  of  which  was  covered  with  small,  white,  edible  snails, 
which  I  mistook  at  first  for  buds.  The  only  flowers  I  saw 
were  the  crane's-bill,  goat's-beard,  and  small  Indian  pinks. 
Mount  Tabor  was  full  in  view,  like  an  irregular  dark  cone, 
rising  above  the  other  hills.  In  about  an  hour  we  entered 
a  hilly  and  wooded  district.  The  cool,  pleasant  shade  of 
trees,  and  the  songs  of  birds,  roused  and  refreshed  us,  and, 
in  groups  of  twos  and  threes,  pleasantly  chatting,  we  pur- 
sued our  way.  Mount  Tabor,  which  had  appeared  to  me 
to  be  gradually  retreating  as  we  advanced,  was  now  quite 
out  of  sight ;  but  after  we  had  traversed  some  wood-crowned 
hills,  and  the  dry  beds  of  two  or  three  Winter  torrents,  we 
saw  it  again,  in  all  its  beauty  and  grandeur.  We  hastened 
over  a  tree-covered  slope,  and  down  a  fertile  valley,  and 
reached  its  base  at  about  two  o'clock.  We  gradually 
ascended  an  easy-winding  path,  pleasantly  shaded,  till  we 
were  about  half-way  up,  when  rocks  and  steep  stone  ledges, 
ancient  masonry,  and  overhanging  branches,  obliged  us  to 
look  cautiously  before  us,  and  to  follow  the  steps  of  the 
leader  carefully.  Oaks — whence  galls  are  procured — arbu- 
tus, pistacia  vera,  pistacia  terebinthus — which  yields  what 
is  called  Yenice  turpentine — pistacia  lentiscus — producing 
gum  mastich — and  locust-trees  abound.  They  were  wreathed 
with  glossy-leaved  creepers,  but  nearly  every  plant  or  shrub 
which  I  touched  was  armed  with  thorns  as  sharp  as  fine 
needles. 

Looking  down  the  steepest  side,  we  could  see  the  wide- 
spread wings  of  eagles  as  they  hovered  just  below  us,  or 
swept  rapidly  through  the  air.  Black  and  fawn-colored 
vultures  appeared  with  their  bright  pinions  perfectly  poised 
and  almost  motionless,  supporting  them  in  steady  downward 
flight  in  spiral  circles.  As  they  rose  again,  their  wings 
were  set  in  motion,  and  I  felt  the  disturbance  of  the  air 
now  and  then  when  they  passed  near  to  us.     In  trying  to 


142  DOMESTIC    LIFE   IN  PALESTINE. 

"watch  their  circular  sailing  and  heavenward  wanderings 
I  nearly  reeled  from  my  horse.  They  rose  higher  and 
higher,  spirally,  till  they  were  quite  indiscernible  to  the 
naked  eye. 

We  alighted  on  the  summit  of  th§  hill,  at  a  quarter  to 
three,  on  a  smooth  plateau  surrounded  by  large  masses  of 
hewn  stone  and  the  foundations  of  strong  walls.  On  one 
side  there  is  an  archway  called  "  Bab  el  How-a,"  Gate  of 
the  Winds.  On  the  other  side  we  saw  part  of  a  ruined 
chapel  and  an  altar  in  an  apse,  a  limestone  cave  and  a 
cistern  hewn  in  the  rock,  and  two  or  three  patches  of 
ground  cultivated  by  a  Russian  hermit,  named  Erinna 
of  Bucharest,  who  had  lived  on  this  mountain  for  fourteen 
years. 

Once  when  I  spent  a  long  day  here,  with  Colonel  and 
the  Honorable  Mrs.  Fred.  Walpole,  I  took  his  portrait,  and 
he  told  me  the  story  of  his  life.  His  father,  he  said,  was 
an  extensive  land  proprietor  in  the  Crimea,  where  he  was 
born,  but  he  went  afterward  to  Bucharest.  One  night 
Erinna  dreamed  that  an  angel  appeared  to  him  and  said, 
"  Arise  and  go  into  the  land  which  I  will  show  you." 
This  disturbed  him  very  much,  and  all  day  the  words 
were  ringing  in  his  ears.  The  next  night  the  angel,  in 
shining  raiment,  appeared  again  in  a  dream  and  repeated 
the  words,  led  him  through  the  air  and  showed  him  a 
mountain  with  a  little  cavern  on  its  summit.  On  the  third 
night  the  angel  led  him  again  to  the  mountain  and  told 
him  that  he  was  to  dwell  in  the  cavern.  Erinna  was  so 
impressed  by  these  dreams,  or  visions  as  he  called  them, 
that  he  took  leave  of  hi§  family,  and  for  twenty  years 
traveled  in  Russia,  Greece,  Egypt,  and  Syria,  to  seek  for 
the  mountain  of  his  dream.  At  last  he  recognized  the 
cave  on  Mount  Tabor,  and  immediately  took  up  his  abode 
there,  for  he  was  convinced  that  it  was  the  place  indicated 
by  the  angel.  He  was  then  eighty-four  years  of  age,  and 
he  said,  "I  thought  I  should  soon  die,  but  I  am  now 
heartier  than  ever,  and  yet  I  am  nearly  one  hundred  years 


ERINNA  THE   HERMIT.  143 

old."  One  Winter's  night,  as  lie  slept  alone  in  his  cave,  he 
felt  something  soft  and  warm  crouching  by  his  side.  He 
found  it  was  a  young  leopard  or  panther :  he  gave  it  food 
and  made  friends  with  it,  so  that  it  would  follow  him  about 
like  a  pet  cat.  For  a  long  time  Erinna  and  l^is  four-footed 
favorite  were  the  lions  of  Mount  Tabor. 

Erinna,  like  Robinson  Crusoe,  after  years  of  solitude, 
found  "his  man  Friday;"  a  fellow-countryman,  a  sturdy- 
looking,  rather  silent,  middle-aged  man,  who  volunteered  to 
superintend  the  little  field  of  wheat  and  barley,  to  cut 
wood  for  firing,  and  to  fetch  water  from  the  rock  cisterns. 
He  called  himself  the  hermit's  servant,  and  hoped  to  inherit 
the  hermitage,  the  sheepskin  cap,  the  ragged  mantle,  and 
the  reputation  of  Erinna. 

The  priests  of  Nazareth,  especially  the  Latins,  were  very 
jealous  of  the  influence  of  this  anchorite,  for  he  was  re- 
garded by  Christian  Arabs  as  a  man  of  peculiar  sanctity, 
and  was  supposed  to  enjoy  the  especial  favor  of  God  and 
his  angels.  Many  people  believed  that  he  had  the  power 
of  performing  miracles,  though  he  did  not  profess  it.  He 
told  us  that  the  Latins  so  strongly  and  perseveringly  in- 
trigued against  him — representing  him  as  a  Russian  spy — 
that  he  feared  he  should  be  banished  from  the  country. 
He  occasionally  visited  the  sick  at  Nazareth  and  the  neigh- 
boring villages:  once  he  came  to  see  us  at  Haifa.  He 
never  tasted  meat ;  his  chief  food  was  rice  and  oil,  of  which 
he  purchased  a  store  once  a  year.  He  kept  a  few  goats 
for  the  sake  of  their  milk ;  cultivated  a  little  garden  of 
herbs  and  vegetables ;  gathered  wild  fruit,  and  took  "  honey 
out  of"  the  nests  in  "the  rocks;"  see  Psalm  Ixxxi,  16.  He 
made  us  some  excellent  coffee,  of  which  he  generally  had  a 
supply,  chiefly  for  guests,  that  is.  Christian  pilgrims  and 
travelers.  He  did  not  make  the  slightest  attempt  to  ren- 
der his  cave  clean  or  comfortable.  Rude  niches  in  the 
rocky  walls  served  to  hold  his  few  books  and  a  little  red 
earthenware  lamp.  A  mat  of  reeds,  some  heavy  clothing 
and  sheepskins  on  a  stone  ledge  formed  his  bed.     His  com- 


144  DOMESTIC   LIFE   IN   PALESTINE. 

panion,  who  belonged  to  the  peasant  class,  occupied  a  cell 
close  to  it,  which  was  used  as  the  kitchen  or  cooking  place. 
Two  very  rough  delf  dishes,  two  wooden  bowls  and  spoons, 
and  a  metal  stew-pan  were  to  be  seen  there. 

I  asked  Erinna  if  he  had  ever  been  married.  He  said 
that  Mount  Tabor  was  his  only  bride. 

He  and  "  his  man  Friday "  assured  me  that  they  were 
very  happy,  and  they  looked  so.  They  divided  their  days 
regularly^  and  worked,  prayed,  ate  and  slept  systematically, 
but  they  seemed  to  think  ablution  unnecessary,  and  they 
wore  the  same  clothes  day  and  night.  Erinna  was  ruddy 
and  hearty,  and  though  his  bushy  beard  was  quite  white, 
he  did  not  look  a§  old  as  he  reckons  himself  to  be  * 

The  view  from  Mount  Tabor  is  very  extensive ;  it  over- 
looks the  plain  of  Esdraelon  Proper,  which  is  divided  into 
squares  and  patches  of  cultivated  land  ;  it  appeared  from 
the  distance  like  a  rude  mosaic,  of  every  tint  of  orange, 
yellow,  gray,  green,  brown,  and  lavender.  Not  a  house,  tent, 
or  village  could  be  seen  to  break  its  monotony,  nor  even  a 
tree  to  cast  a  shadow ;  but  the  hills  which  surround  it  were 
clothed  with  woods,  and  dotted  with  towns,  hamlets,  and 
ruins.  Mr.  Finn  said,  "  Fancy  Barak  with  his  10,000  men 
upon  this  mountain ;  people  that  plain  with  the  chariots, 
*  even  900  chariots  of  iron,'  gathered  together  by  Sisera,  and 
see  Sisera  pursued  by  Barak  unto  Harosheth."  He  read 
the  landscape  round  for  me,  pointing  out  the  range  of  Car- 
mel  and  the  Mediterranean  on  the  west — the  hills  of  Gilboa 
and  the  villages  of  Jezreel,  Endor,  and  Nain  in  the  south — 
the  hill-country  beyond  Jordan,  and  the  mountains  which 
encircle  the  Sea  of  Galilee  on  the  east,  and  far  away  in  the 
north  Lebanon  crowned  with  snow.  Nearer  to  us  we  could 
see  the  Horns  of  Hattin — a  rounded  hill  with  two  distinct 
mounds  or  peaks  on  its  summit.  This  is  called  the  Mount 
of  Beatitudes,  where  tradition  tells  us  that  the  Sermon  of 
sermons  was  preached.     After  exploring  the  ruins  and  the 

*  Erinna  died  in  1859,  much  regretted  by  the  peasants  of  the  plain,  and  by  the 
poor  of  Nazareth. 


POPULATION  OF  NAZARETH.  145 

deep  cisterns,  we  remounted.  The  sun  had  quite  disap- 
peared when  we  reached  the  foot  of  the  hill.  (On  one 
occasion  I  walked  down  the  steepest  side  of  Tabor,  with  the 
help  of  a  stout  stick  and  a  strong  arm.) 

The  Rev.  J.  L.  Porter  says  that  Tabor  rises  1,400  feet 
above  the  plain,  and  the  plain  is  500  feet  above  the  level 
of  the  sea. 

We  had  a  pleasant  ride  back  to  Nazareth  by  moonlight. 
We  spent  the  evening  at  the  Consular  encampment,  and  at 
a  late  hour  w?ilked  up  by  lantern-light  to  Saleh's  house. 

The  next  morning  I  sat  in  the  deep  embrasure  of  a  win- 
dow, sketching,  while  my  brother  was  busy  in  the  midst  of 
a  group  of  Turkish  Effendis  and  Christian  scribes.  They 
all  carried  inkhorns  in  their  girdles,  with  cases  attached  to 
them  to  hold  their  reed  pens.  They  sat  on  the  floor  and 
held  single  sheets  of  paper  in  their  hands,  and  wrote  with- 
out any  desk  or  support.  The  points  of 'reed  pens  are  so 
delicate,  that  they  would  be  easily  fractured  by  pressure  on 
a  hard  table  or  desk. 

The  population  of  Nazareth  is  computed  by  Dr.  Kobin- 
son  thus : 

Moslems 680 

Greeks 1,040      who  look  to  Rnssia  as  their  protector. 

Latins 480^ 

Greek  Catholics 520  UdherenU  of  the  Pope,  and  con8eqT,entiy 

(  French  proteges, 

Maronites 400J 

This  gives  a  total  of  3,120 ;  but  the  most  recent  and  care- 
ful inquirers  assure  me  that  this  estimate  is  too  low.  They 
reckon  the  total  at  4,000,  and  the  Greek  Church  is  said  to 
be  on  the  increase.  I  never  met  a  Jew  either  in  Nazareth 
or  Bethlehem!  There  is  a  small  Protestant  congregation, 
which  is  rather  fluctuating. 

Khawadja  Stephani,  the  son  of  the  Greek  Priest  of  Shefa 
'Amer,  came  expressly  to  ask  us  and  Saleh  to  return  to 
Haifa  by  way  of  his  village,  and  to  pass  a  night  there  at 
his  house.  We  arranged  to  do  so,  and  started  soon  after 
midday.     We  rode  for  some  distance  over  rocky  hills,  where 

13 


146  DOMESTIC   LIFE   IN  PALESTINE. 

bees  were  busy  among  the  blossoming  herbs ;  across  plains 
covered  with  tall  thistles — their  harsh  stems,  leaves,  thorns, 
and  spiny  flowers  were  bright  with  a  purple  bloom,  like 
that  which  we  see  on  ripe  plums,  and  from  a  distance  a 
plain  overgrown  with  them  looked  like  a  calm,  blue  lake. 
At  about  two  we  entered  a  garden  inclosed  by  a  low  stone 
wall,  situated  at  the  bottom  of  a  well- watered  valley,  where 
the  lemon-trees  were  laden  with  green  fruit,  and  pomegran- 
ates were  plentiful.  We  dismounted  and  walked  through 
the  garden  to  the  streamlet  which  traverses  it,  bordered 
with  hawthorn,  rose,  and  fruit-trees.  Its  banks,  steep  and 
grassy,  were  fragrant  with  mint  and  marjoram,  and  cresses 
grew  along  the  edge  of  the  water.  Under  a  wide-spreading 
fig-tree,  where  tiny-leaved  clover  had  made  a  smooth  carpet, 
we  spread  our  saddle-cloths  in  a  half-circle,  and  took  our 
seats.  Soon  a  plentiful  dinner  was  placed  before  us.  We 
took  it  in  primitive  style,  for  we  had  neither  forks  nor 
spoons,  and  our  only  plates  were  thin  Arab  loaves,  about  a 
quarter  of  a  yard  in  diameter  and  a  quarter  of  an  inch 
thick.  Saleh  made  a  drinking- cup  for  me  of  the  large  leaf 
of  a  water-plant,  which  he  knew  to  be  harmless.  Each  one 
of  the  party,  as  soon  as  he  had  eaten,  rose  and  washed  his 
bands  at  the  stream,  and  then,  selecting  another  tree  for 
our  shade,  and  a  grassy  bank  for  our  divan,  we  rested, 
telling  stories  in  turn,  while  the  kawasses  and  servants 
made  an  end  of  the  provisions. 

In  this  garden  I  saw  some  remarkable  double  fig-trees, 
the  trunks  of  which  were  twisted  as  perfectly  and  regu- 
larly as  if  they  had  been  carved.  I  asked  the  gardener 
how  he  managed  it.  He  said,  ^^ Allah  Karim^' — "God  is 
bountiful" — and  then  explained  to  me  how  tender  saplings 
are  planted  side  by  side,  and  perseveringly  entwined,  or 
even  plaited  sometimes.  He  led  me  to  one  which  he  con- 
sidered more  perfect  than  the  others.  The  twisted  trunk 
was  about  half  a  yard  in  diameter;  it  rose  six  feet  from 
the  ground,  as  upright  as  a  marble  column,  without  any 
branches  to  break  its  perfect  outline,  and  then  spread  out 


147 

its  crooked  arms  in  all  directions,  clothed  with  green 
leaves — the  largest  which  I  had  ever  observed.  This 
pleasant  garden  is  near  to  the  fountain  which  was  the 
gathering-place  of  the  Christian  knights  before  the  ter- 
rible battle  of  Hattin,  and  where  the  conqueror  Saladin 
encamped  after  he  had  in  that  decisive  conflict  almost 
annihilated  the  Crusaders.  Sephoris  or  Sefurieh  is  just 
opposite.  It  is  a  poor  but  interesting  place.  Jewish, 
heathen,  and  Christian  ruins  are  to  be  found  there,  and 
tradition  points  to  the  house  in  which  Anna,  the  mother 
of  Mary,  was  born. 

We  mounted  at  half-past  three,  and  followed  the  course 
of  the  stream.  It  flowed  between  orchards,  gardens  of 
cucumbers,  and  stubble-fields.  All  the  horses  and  their 
riders  seemed  newly  animated.  They  rode  in  circles,  dis- 
playing feats  of  horsemanship,  letting  ofi"  their  pistols 
while  in  full  gallop;  their  long,  loose,  white  Arab  cloaks, 
made  of  goat's-hair,  fluttered  behind  them,  and  the  almost 
flying  figures  represented  to  my  fancy  the  Templars  of  old 
on  their  fabled  white-winged  steeds.  When  the  horses 
were  well  tired,  the  riders  grouped  together,  and  we  rode 
through  an  oak-wood,  talking  of  the  Crusades.  I  found 
that  our  Arab  friends  were  quite  familiar  with  such  names 
as  Peter  the  Hermit  and  Eichard  Coeur  de  Lion.  Oriental 
poets  and  historians  call  the  latter  "Ankitar." 

We  soon  came  to  an  olive-grove,  on  a  hill  forming  part 
of  an  extensive  amphitheater,  from  the  center  of  which 
rises  a  mount  of  conical  form,  and  on  it  stands  Shefa 
'Amer,  backed  by  a  lofty  castle,  square  and  massive, 
looking  almost  as  large  as  the  village  itself.  The  hill- 
sides, with  the  exception  of  the  one  which  we  descended, 
were  clothed  with  evergreens;  and  the  valleys  for  miles 
around  were  wooded  with  olive  and  other  fruit-trees. 
We  rode  through  a  burial-ground,  tastefully  planted  with 
shrubs,  and  passing  an  immense  heap  of  dust,  dirt,  and 
rubbish  —  on  the  top  of  which  a  crowd  of  people  had 
assembled  to  see  us — we  entered  the  village,  and  alighted 


148  DOMESTIC  LIFE  IN  PALESTINE. 

at  the  house  of  Stephahi.  He  led  me  up  an  open  stone 
stairway,  and  along  a  covered  terrace,  into  a  long,  lofty, 
cheerful  room,  with  unglazed  windows  on  three  sides  of  it. 
One  end  of  the  room  was  furnished  with  Turkey  carpets, 
narrow  mattresses  and  cushions,  which  made  a  comfortable 
divan.  The  stuccoed  walls  were  slightly  frescoed  with 
rudely-grotesque  and  droll  designs  of  the  most  childish 
character. 

Pipes  and  narghiles  were  ranged  in  a  recess,  and  a  hand- 
some set  of  cojBfee-cups,  with  silver  filagree  holders,  were  on 
a  low  stand  near  the  door.  In  a  corner  there  was  a  broad, 
shallow,  marble  basin  let  into  the  floor,  with  a  hole  in  the 
center  to  carry  off  water.  It  was  the  place  of  ablution, 
and  three  water-jars  stood  near  to  it. 

This  room  was  the  "  guest  chamber,"  separated  from  the 
other  part  of  the  establishment. 

Stephani  said  to  me,  "  This  is  your  house,  rule  over  it  as 
you  will,  command  me  and  my  family  as  your  servants." 

I  was  left  to  rest  and  to  dress,  and  presently  the  gentle- 
men rejoined  me. 

Guests  were  coming  and  going  all  the  evening.  First 
arrived  the  stately  Turkish  Grovernor,  a  tall  figure  with  a 
flat  face,  like  a  mask  of  shriveled  parchment;  in  fact  he 
resembled  a  Chinese  mummy  much  more  than  a  living 
Turk.  He  was  intensely  polite  and  complimentary,  and 
confidentially  complained  to  us  of  his  poverty,  and  of  the 
iinprofital)leness  of  his  office.  He  was  dressed  in  a  suit  of 
Bnuff-brown  cloth,  embroidered  with  gold,  and  a  long  sword 
hung  at  his  side. 

The  father  of  Stephani,  a  very  handsome  old  man  with 
a  patriarchal  white  beard,  came  and  sat  by  me.  He  wore 
a  long  robe  of  coarse  purple  linen,  and  his  turban  was  of 
the  same  color.  He  is  the  chief  priest  of  the  Greek  com- 
munity of  Shefa  'Amer,  and  neighboring  villages.  His 
words  were  few,  but  his  looks  were  expressive.  He  was 
evidently  proud  of  his  sons  and  of  his  little  grandsons. 
At  a  sign  from   him,  the   latter    came   forward   from   the 


149 

other  end  of  the  room  to  kiss  my  hands.  They  were 
clean,  well-dressed,  bright-looking  boys.  The  room  was 
full  of  visitors.  Mattresses  were  spread  all  round  against 
the  walls,  and  there  was  not  a  space  vacant,  but  not  one 
woman  came. 

It  grew  dark,  and  the  shutters  were  closed,  when  a  tall, 
slender,  brass  candelabrum  was  brought  in,  and  placed  on 
the  middle  of  the  floor,  at  the  upper  end  of  the  room.  It 
supported  a  large  oil  lamp,  with  three  wicks.  Three  long 
brass  chains  hung  from  it — one  held  a  pair  of  lamp- 
scissors,  another  a  long  stout  pin  which  is  used  to  trim  the 
wick,  to  the  third  an  extinguisher  was  attached.  At  the 
lower  end  of  the  room,  a  large  glazed  lantern,  with  tin 
frame-work,  stood  on  a  low  wooden  stool — these  lights 
shone  on  a  strange  and  motley  assembly.  There  was  an 
Indian  Jew  there,  with  a  very  dark  face  and  white  beard, 
a  dusky  turban,  and  duskier  robes.  He  came  forward  to 
claim  brotherhood  with  us,  for  he  was  an  English  subject, 
and  very  proud  of  his  nationality.  He  had  journeyed  from 
Hindoostan  to  see  the  city  of  Solomon,  and  to  ascertain  the 
state  of  the  Jews  in  Palestine.  He  seemed  to  be  a  learned 
and  enterprising  man. 

Isaac  Shallom,  a  Jew  of  Aleppo,  but  a  resident  at  Haifa, 
brought  me  some  soft,  sweet,  white  almond  paste,  with 
pistachio  nuts  imbedded  in  it — a  celebrated  Aleppo  sweet- 
meat. The  Kabbi  and  chief  members  of  the  Jewish  com- 
munity of  Shefa  'Amer  were  also  present,  with  a  few  Mos- 
lems and  Druzes,  and  a  number  of  Christian  Arabs.  Arrack 
was  handed  round  from  time  to  time  in  the  lower  part  of 
the  room,  and  songs  of  praise  were  sung  in  honor  of  the 
chief  guests.  Saleh,  who  is  no  singer,  but  a  very  fluent 
speaker,  said,  "  Ibrahim  left  his  kindred,  his  home,  and  his 
country,  he  dwelt  in  a  strange  land  among  strangers,  but 
he  became  mighty  in  the  land,  his  family  increased,  his 
name  became  great.  Even  so  may  the  name  of  Rogers  be 
known  throughout  this  country,  may  his  children  and  his 
children's  children   dwell   here  in  honor!"     The  idea  was 


150  DOMESTIC  LIFE  IN   PALESTINE. 

immediately  taken  up  by  the  singers,  and  they  improvised 
a  song,  the  burden  of  which  was,  "  May  his  children's 
children  dwell  here  in  honor!" 

Some  graceful  compliments  were  paid  to  me,  with  prayers 
for  my  happiness.  Then  the  singing,  of  which  there  was 
a  great  variety,  became  general.  We  heard  Egyptian  love- 
songs  beautifully  and  plaintively  sung  by  a  gardener  from 
the  Nile,  and  a  man  of  Bagdad  gave  us  a  curious  ditty, 
jerking  out  his  words  at  first,  and  by  degrees  toning  them 
down .  into  a  languishing,  drawling  melody,  in  a  minor 
key.  The  Arabs  sang  a  great  many  monotonous  songs; 
but  one  was  very  sweet — the  chorus  of  it  was,  "  0  Beda- 
wiya."  I  think  that  this  song  would  please  English  ears 
generally. 

Isaac,  the  Jew  of  Aleppo,  was  asked  to  dance  for  me. 
The  lantern  was  moved  out  of  the  way.  He  stood  up  at 
first  very  shyly,  the  Arabs  sitting  round,  singing  and  clap- 
ping their  hands,  keeping  time.  He  had  on  very  full  white 
drawers,  a  black  jacket,  yellow  and  white  silk  striped 
waistcoat,  and  a  shawl  sash.  Round  his  red  tarbush  a  blue 
mundil  was  folded.  He  bent  his  head  down  and  raised  his 
arms  above  it.  By  degrees  his  feet  and  hands  were  in  slow 
motion  in  harmony  with  the  music,  and  his  body  swayed  to 
and  fro.  Soon  the  songs  grew  louder,  the  clapping  of  hands 
quicker,  and  the  movements  of  the  dancer  more  decided, 
but  they  were  as  monotonous  as  the  tunes  which  inspired 
them.  During  the  whole  of  the  dance  he  kept  within  a 
circle  of  about  a  yard  in  diameter;  at  last  he  spun  round 
and  retreated,  hiding  himself  shamefacedly  behind  his 
friends. 

Supper  was  announced,  and  many  of  the  visitors  retired. 
Servants  brought  in  a  round  stand,  about  five  inches  in 
hight,  and  covered  it  with  dishes.  While  this  was  being 
arranged,  my  brother  begged  to  be  allowed  to  fetch  a  cer- 
tain man,  named  Habib,  to  sup  there.  He  had  once  been 
Stephani's  chief  friend,  but  a  misunderstanding  had  arisen 
between  them,  consequently  the  two  most  influential  Chris- 


SONGS  AND    SUPPER.  161 

tian  families  in  Shefa  'Amer  lived  as  strangers  to  each 
other.  Stephani  readily  consented  to  receive  Habib,  who 
soon  came,  and  the  two  long-divided  friends  embraced. 
They  have  lived  in  harmony  ever  since.  Before  eating, 
each  one  of  us  had  water  poured  on  our  hands  over  the 
marble  basin;  for  the  Christian  Arabs,  as  well  as  the  Mos- 
lems, "  and  all  the  Jews,  except  they  wash  their  hands,  eat 
not."  This  is  particularly  necessary,  considering  that  they 
do  not  use  knives  and  forks ;  but  each  one  "  dips  his  hand 
into  the  dish  "  with  his  neighbor. 

Stephani  at  first  wished  to  serve  us  at  supper,  instead  of 
sitting  down  with  us,  for  it  is  the  Arab  custom  for  the 
host  to  wait  on  his  guests  as  a  servant.  We  overcame  his 
scruples,  and  we  ate  together.  Afterward,  water  was  again 
poured  on  our  hands — a  servant  stood  by,  holding  native 
scented-soap  and  an  embroidered  towel — then  we  had  coffee 
and  narghiles. 

An  Arabic  Bible  published  by  the  British  and  Foreign 
Bible  Society — a  Roman  version,  by  the  by — was  brought 
in,  and  Saleh  read  aloud  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount.  Bible 
history  is  pretty  well  known  in  the  Greek  community;  it  is 
read  in  their  churches  in  the  vulgar  tongue,  and  is  not 
withheld  from  the  laity.  The  bulk  of  the  people,  however, 
can  not  read.  The  few  who  can  do  so  gladly  obtain  copies, 
but  the  Bible  is  rarely  to  be  met  with,  except  in  those 
families  of  which  one  of  the  members  is  a  priest  or  very 
studious,  as  Saleh,  for  instance. 

The  Greek  priests  must  always  be  married  men.  Those 
of  the  villages  and  small  towns  are  often  very  ignorant, 
and,  as  they  rarely  receive  a  systematic  ecclesiastical  train- 
ing, their  expositions  and  definitions  of  the  articles  and 
dogmas  of  their  Church  are  very  curious  and  conflicting. 
Their  Bishops  and  higher  clergy  are  generally  foreigners, 
that  is,  native  Greeks  and  Russians,  and  do  not  often  learn 
Arabic,  so  they  make  little  or  no  impression  on  the  Syrian 
branch  of  their  Church.  The  Latin  clergy,  on  the  other 
hand,  are  often  quite  unfamiliar  with  the  Bible,  and  always 


152  DOMESTIC  LIFE  IN  PALESTINE. 

strongly  oppose  its  circulation,  but  are  well  grounded  in 
matters  of  discipline  and  doctrinal  points. 

The  two  Churches  vie  with  each  other  in  circulating  ex- 
traordinary traditions  and  legends  of  saints  and  martyrs, 
and  they  equally  encourage  pilgrimages  to  holy  places  and 
reliance  on  relics. 

Soon  after  supper  the  room  was  cleared  of  all  the  smok- 
ing, turbaned,  fezzed,  and  singing  guests,  slaves,  and  serv- 
ants. My  brother  and  Saleh  went  home  with  Habib  to 
sleep  at  his  house.  I  was  left  alone  in  the  large  guest- 
chamber,  where  Stephani  had  caused  a  bed  to  be  made  for 
me.  I  opened  one  of  the  heavy  shutters,  to  see  my  friends 
pass  round  on  the  side  of  the  hill,  five  lanterns  gleaming 
before  them.  I  fastened  the  door  with  a  stiff  clumsy  lock, 
the  mechanism  of  which  I  did  not  in  the  least  understand, 
and  I  soon  discovered  that  I  was  a  self-made  prisoner,  for  I 
could  not  find  out  how  to  undo  it  again.  I  was  obliged  to 
resign  myself  to  my  fate,  making  sure  I  should  be  set  free 
in  the  morning.  I  fell  asleep  on  a  soft,  crimson  silk  pil- 
low, under  an  embroidered  lehaff,  and  did  not  wake  till  the 
sun  shone  on  my  face  through  the  chinks  of  the  ill-made 
shutters.  I  was  up  and  dressed  when  Stephani  knocked  at 
the  door,  which  he  contrived  to  open.  While  the  room  was 
swept  and  garnished  I  went  with  him  to  take  coffee  at  the 
house  of  Habib.  On  my  return  to  my  quarters,  the  female 
members  of  the  family,  their  neighbors,  and  the  women- 
servants,  came  to  look  at  me,  but  not  till  they  were  quite 
sure  of  finding  me  alone.  They  clustered  shyly  round  the 
door,  and  I  had  to  play  the  part  of  hostess  and  invite  them 
to  enter  in.  They  were  dressed  in  the  same  style  as  the 
women  of  Nazareth,  and  are  quite  as  handsome,  but  more 
simple  and  modest-looking.  Stephani's  wife,  a  tall,  dark- 
eyed  woman,  wore  large  heavy  coins  round  her  face,  with 
a  yellow  mundil  folded  across  her  forehead  and  tied  at  the 
back  of  her  head ;  the  open  front  of  her  red  and  white 
cotton  dress  was  trimmed  with  a  double  frill,  edged  with 
braid.     Her  eldest  daughter,  a  girl  of  ten,  named  Werdeh — 


1&3 

that  is,  Rosy — was  very  beautiful,  with  regular  features, 
clear  bronzed  complexioD,  eyes  brown  and  sparkling,  the 
lids  deeply  tinged  with  kohl,  and  the  hands  and  feet  stained 
with  henna.  Her  thick,  dark  hair  was  combed  down  over 
her  high  forehead,  and  cut  straight  across  it  just  above  her 
arched  eyebrows.  At  the  back  her  hair  was  allowed  to 
grow  long,  and  was  plaited.  She  wore  a  head-dress  of 
coins,  for  they  are  not  yet  going  out  of  fashion  in  Shefa 
'Amer.  Her  open  dress  was  of  white  calico,  ornamented  in 
front  profusely,  with  black,  blue,  and  red  braid.  The 
sleeves  were  very  long,  and  capable  of  concealing  the  hands 
entirely,  but  when  the  arms  were  raised  the  sleeves  still 
hung  down,  for  they  were  open  as  high  as  the  elbow. 

The  room  was  soon  crowded  with  women  and  girls. 
Their  dresses,  though  various  in  point  of  texture  and  con- 
dition, were  all  of  the  same  fashion — from  the  crimson  and 
white  striped  silk  dress  of  a  young  bride,  to  the  ragged 
cotton  garments  worn  by  an  aged  servant,  whose  head-dress 
was  stripped  of  all  its  coins.  I  was  sketching  Werdeh  and 
her  mother,  when  suddenly  they,  and  all  the  rest,  rose  and 
scampered  away,  without  saying  a  word,  vailing  themselves 
hastily.  The  entrance  of  the  Turkish  Governor  and  my 
brother,  a  minute  afterward,  explained  their  flight. 

Little  Daoud,  the  governor's  son,  came  to  see  me.  He 
wore  an  olive-colored  cloth  cloak,  and  a  green  muslin 
turban.  His  features  were  regular,  but  his  face  was  very 
sallow.  He  tried  to  look  dignified  and  composed  while  I 
took  his  portrait,  but  could  not  prevent  a  smile  coming 
now  and  then.  Saleh,  and  Stephani,  with  his  father,  joined 
us,  and  after  lunch  we  went  all  together  to  the  castle.  On 
approaching  it,  I  perceived  that  it  was  already  falling  to 
decay,  although  it  was  only  built  about  150  years  ago. 
The  lofty  gates  and  archways  are  slightly  decorated  with 
fretted  canopies,  in  the  style  of  the  Alhambra.  A  two- 
storied  range  of  vaulted  corridors  and  chambers  surrounds 
an  extensive  court-yard.  The  ground-floor  is  well  adapted 
for  stabling,  and  would  lodge  about  500  horses.     Tottering 


154  DOMESTIC  LIFE  IN  PALESTINE. 

stone  stairways  led  us  to  the  upper  floors.  The  pointed 
double  windows,  in  deep  embrasures  in  the  outer  walls, 
command  magnificent  views  in  all  directions. 

The  west  windows  overlook  the  plain  of  Akka  and  the 
sea,  with  Mount  Carmel  and  Haifa  in  the  background  on 
the  left.  The  north  windows  look  toward  Lebanon,  with 
the  city  of  Akka  on  the  left,  and  the  little  town  of  Abilene 
in  the  foreground  on  the  right,  its  tall  white  tower  stand- 
ing conspicuously  in  the  midst  of  olive-trees  and  gardens. 
The  banners  of  Richard  I  once  waved  there.  The  south- 
ern and  eastern  views  are  bounded  by  hills  and  mountains, 
rising  one  behind  the  other. 

While  petitioners  for  protection  crowded  round  my 
brother,  I  wandered  from  hall  to  hall  and  from  window 
to  window,  with  Saleh  for  my  cicerone.  We  climbed  to 
the  top  of  the  embattled  walls,  and  walked  nearly  all  round 
the  building;  but  the  stones  are  falling,  and  allowed  to 
remain  where  they  fall,  and  scarcely  any  use  seems  to  be 
made  of  the  place. 

As  we  left  the  castle,  the  governor  asked  me  to  go  with 
him  to  see  his  wives.  A  glance  from  my  brother  told  me 
that  I  might  accept  the  invitation.  Of  course,  none  of  the 
gentlemen  could  accompany  me ;  so  they  walked  homeward 
with  Stephani,  and  the  governor  escorted  me  to  his  dreary- 
looking  house.  A  gateway,  through  which  a  laden  camel 
could  easily  pass,  led  us  into  an  ill-paved  guttered  court, 
which  was  the  only  entrance  to  a  square  vaulted  hall,  with 
bare  stone  walls,  and  four  unglazed  windows  quite  out  of 
reach.  The  floor  was  of  earth,  with  smooth  rock  slabs 
here  and  there. 

This  was  the  governor's  residence — his  dining-room,  with- 
drawing-room,  nursery,  stables,  and  kitchen  all  together ! 
On  one  side,  just  within  the  door,  a  mule  was  feeding ;  a 
stone  bench,  hollowed  out  a  little,  was  his  manger;  a 
patient  ass  stood  by  him.  On  the  other  side,  a  tethered 
horse  was  neighing ;  and  on  'a  heap  of  fodder,  two  dirty, 
delicate-looking  children  were  kicking  and  crying  out  lust- 


THE   HAREM.  155 

ily.  There  was  a  sort  of  oven,  or  cooking-place,  in  one 
corner  of  the  hall,  and  I  could  see  the  red  glow  of  a  char- 
coal fire.  On  the  left  hand  there  was  a  broad  wooden 
platform,  raised  about  two  feet  from  the  ground,  with  a 
low  ornamental  wooden  railing  at  the  edge  of  it.  Here 
mattresses  and  lehaffs  were  piled  up ;  I  suppose  it  was  the 
sleeping-place  of  the  lord  of  the  harem.  We  went  straight 
across  the  hall,  to  a  dais,  in  a  broad,  arched  recess,  just 
opposite  to  the  door  by  which  we  had  entered.  Two 
crooked  stone  steps  led  up  to  it,  and  two  women — one  old 
and  the  other  young — stood  there  ready  to  receive  me. 
They  took  my  hands  in  theirs,  and  placed  me  on  a  cush- 
ioned seat  on  the  matted  floor. 

The  governor  introduced  me  to  the  younger  of  th^ 
women,  telling  me  that  she  was  his  wife,  the  mother  of 
his  little  Daoud.  She  was  perhaps  twenty,  rather  tall  and 
graceful-looking,  with  bright  blue  eyes  and  black  hair,  and 
a  brilliant  though  dark  complexion.  She  had  used  kohl 
and  henna  freely,  and  her  chin  and  forehead  were  tattooed. 
I  think  that  she  was  prepared  for  my  coming,  for  she  had 
on  a  fete-day  dress.  A  blue  cloth  jacket,  embroidered  with 
gold,  very  open  in  front,  exposed  her  tattooed  chest,  and  a 
white  spun  silk  shirt.  Her  full  trowsers  were  of  Aleppo 
silk,  white  and  straw-colored.  Her  shallow  red  cloth  cap 
was  decorated  with  rows  of  gold  coins,  pearls,  and  ever- 
lasting flowers.  A  long  purple  tassel  hung  down  behind, 
and  a  perforated,  flat,  crescent-shaped  gilt  ornament,  about 
five  inches  wide,  was  fixed  on  the  top  of  the  head-dress. 
(Is  this  the  "  round  tire "  like  the  moon,  referred  to  in 
Isaiah  iii,  18?)  Her  long  hair  was  plaited,  and  inter- 
woven with  black  silk  braid,  to  make  it  appear  still  longer. 
She  told  me  that  Shefa  'Amer  was  not  a  pleasant  place  to 
live  in,  and  that  she  was  quite  a  stranger  there.  I  asked 
her  what  part  of  the  country  she  came  from.  She  said, 
"Neby-Daoud  is  the  place  of  my  birth,  and  the  place  I 
love."  She  referred  to  a  cluster  of  buildings  round  the 
tomb  of  the  Prophet  David,  or  Neby -Daoud,  just  outside 


156  DOMESTIC  LIFE  IN  PALESTINE. 

the  walls  of  Jerusalem,  by  the  Zion  gate.  She  was  happy 
to  hear  herself  called  Urn  Daoud,  that  is,  "  The  Mother 
of  David." 

The  governor  interrupted  her  explanations,  by  telling 
her  to  make  some  lemonade  for  me.  Close  by  the  two 
steps  of  the  dais  stood  a  pair  of  high  clogs,  almost-  like 
stilts,  made  of  inlaid  dark  wood  and  mother-of-pearl,  with 
crimson  leather  straps.  She  fastened  these  on  her  henna- 
stained,  naked  feet — for  the  earth  floor  was  very  damp  and 
dirty,  and  water  rested  here  and  there  in  little  pools.  Her 
husband  followed  her,  and  helped  her  to  reach  some  green 
drinking-glasses  from  a  niche  in  the  wall.  The  other 
woman,  who  looked  very  old  and  careworn,  remained  by 
my  side.  When  the  young  wife  was  out  of  hearing,  I 
exclaimed,  "  How  beautiful  she  is !"  She  agreed  with  me, 
and  seemed  to  take  a  mother's  pride  and  pleasure  in  her 
beauty.  I  did  not  know  that  the  young  wife  was  her 
rival ;  I  fancied  that  she  was  her  daughter,  till  she  said, 
"  Um  Daoud  is  young,  Um  Daoud  is  happy ;  she  is  young, 
and  is  the  mother  of  two  sons ;"  (she  pointed  to  a  cradle 
hammock,  suspended  from  the  key-stone  of  the  arch  above 
us — in  it  a  little  swaddled  figure  was  securely  and  gently 
swinging;)  "but,"  she  added,  "I  have  no  sons  left,  my 
sons  are  dead;  and  I  am  old,  I  am  no  longer  handsome, 
/  am  nothing^  I  am  worthless.^^  Then  she  explained  to  me 
that  she  had  lived  about  twenty  years  with  the  governor 
before  he  took  Um  Daoud  for  his  wife.  I  said  to  her, 
alluding  to  the  little  ones  who  had  now  crawled  out  of  the 
fodder,  "  Whose  children  are  they  ?"  She  said,  "  They  are 
sons  of  the  house  " — that  is,  of  the  governor — and  a  slave, 
who  stood  near  the  oven,  was  their  mother. 

Presently  Um  Daoud  returned  with  the  lemonade.  The 
governor  himself  brought  me  a  tiny  cup  of  coffee  flavored 
with  ambergris.  Young  Daoud  now  came  in,  and  seemed 
delighted  to  find  me  there.  He  said,  "Make  my  mother's 
face  in  your  book,"  and,  "Make  my  brother's  face  for  me." 
The   baby-boy  was  lifted   out  of  the  hammock;    he  was 


JEWISH   SYNAGOGUE.  167 

about  six  months  old;  his  eyelids  were  black  with  kohl. 
I  asked  why  kohl  was  used  for  a  child  so  young.  "It  will 
strengthen  the  sight  of  his  eyes,  and  make  the  lashes  long 
and  thick,"  said  the  elder  woman. 

I  took  leave  of  them,  and  found  my  kawass  just  outside 
the  house  waiting  to  take  me  to  meet  my  brother  at  the 
Greek  church.  It  is  a  modern  building ;  silk  hangings 
and  gaudy  pictures  decorate  the  walls.  The  font  is  of 
marble;  I  think  it  is  formed  of  an  ancient  Byzantine 
capital,  hollowed  out  at  the  top.  In  a  school  adjoining 
the  church  a  number  of  boys  were  noisily  but  monoto- 
nously intoning  psalms,  echoing  the  nasal  twang  of  their 
teacher.  I  find  that  the  Psalter  is  the  chief  class-book  in 
Christian  Arab  schools,  as  the  Koran  is  in  Moslem  schools. 
I  have  often  seen  boys  with  these  books  in  their  hands, 
who  appear  to  be  reading  freely,  when  in  reality  they 
scarcely  know  their  letters,  but  who  repeat,  parrot-like, 
large  portions  of  them  by  heart. 

We  afterward  went  to  the  Jewish  synagogue,  where  the 
chief  rabbi  received  us.  He  showed  me  several  copies  of 
the  Law  and  the  Prophets,  wrapped  in  crimson  silk  cases 
which  are  kept  in  a  recess  behind  an  embroidered  curtain, 
or  vail.  In  the  middle  of  the  building  there  was  a  high 
circular  wooden  platform,  with  seats  of  honor  upon  it.  It 
was  built  so  slightly  that  at  first  I  thought  it  was  only 
a  temporary  erection ;  but  I  found  in  all  the  synagogues 
which  I  visited  raised  central  seats  of  equally  slight  con- 
struction. 

The  gentlemen  then  went  for  a  ride.  I  declined  doing 
so,  hoping  during  their  absence  to  see  the  women  again; 
and  Khawadja  Stephani,  at  my  request,  sent  his  wife  and 
children  to  me.  They  took  me  to  see  the  lower  part  of 
the  house;  it  was  ill-arranged,  untidy,  and  uncomfortable. 
They  returned  with  me  to  my  room.  I  made  a  few  sketches, 
which  amused  them  greatly.  Soon  such  crowds  of  women 
came  in  that  one  of  the  men-servants  of  the  house,  who 
stood  as  guard  or  sentinel  at  my  door,  entered,  and  very 


158  DOMESTIC   LIFE  IN  PALESTINE. 

unceremoniously  drove  about  half  of  them  out  of  the  place, 
and  they  all  withdrew  when  the  gentlemen  returned  from 
their  ride. 

We  spent  the  evening  at  the  house  of  Habib.  A  large 
party  assembled  to  meet  us  in  his  spacious  guest-chamber, 
and  all  the  culinary  skill  of  Shefa  'Amer  had  been  em- 
ployed in  preparing  a  supper  for  us.  Songs,  compli- 
mentary speeches,  and  story-telling  followed.  I  walked 
back  to  Stephani's  house  by  the  light  of  many  lanterns, 
accompanied  to  my  door  by  my  brother  and  nearly  all 
the  guests. 

At  sunrise  the  next  morning  we  were  mounted  and 
ready  to  start  for  Haifa.  Stephani,  Habib,  and  a  large 
party  joined  us.  Our  Egyptian  groom  had  charge  of  a 
beautiful  Syrian  gazelle-hound  which  had  been  given  to 
my  brother.  We  rode  down  into  the  valley  and  along  a 
level  road  leading  to  a  large  fountain.  A  number  of  the 
village  girls  were  already  assembled  there — some  standing 
on  the  high  stone  platform  surrounding  the  well,  and 
others  grouped  round  the  base.  In  the  distance  we  saw 
a  procession  of  them,  traversing,  one  by  one,  a  narrow 
foot-path  on  the  hill-side,  with  their  replenished  jars 
perfectly  poised  on  their  heads. 

We  turned  out  of  the  Akka  road,  and  entered  an  ex- 
tensive olive-grove.  Picturesque  groups  of  men,  women, 
and  children,  in  bright-colored  garments,  were  busy  among 
the  trees,  or  hastening  along  the  road.  I  had  always  seen 
the  olive  plantations  so  silent  and  deserted  that  it  was 
quite  a  surprise  to  me.  Saleh  explained  that  it  was  the 
beginning  of  the  olive  harvest — the  19th  of  October — and 
all  of  these  people  had  been  hired  to  gather  the  fruit. 
The  men  beat  the  trees  with  long  sticks,  and  the  women 
and  children  pick  up  the  berries.*  We  met  a  straggling 
group  of  figures,  which  looked  so  unnaturally  tall  and  dis- 
proportionate that  I  could  not  make  them  out  till   I  was 

*  "When  thou  beatest  thino  olive-tree  thou  shalt  not  go  over  the  boughs  again; 
It  shall  bo  for  the  stranger,  the  fatherless,  and  the  widow."    Deut.  xxiv,  20. 


COTTON-FIELDS.  159 

told  that  they  were  Druze  women.  They  wore  tubular 
horns,  from  one  to  two  feet  in  length,  bound  firmly  on  their 
foreheads,  supporting  heavy  black  or  white  vails,  which 
almost  shrouded  the  wearers,  producing  a  very  ungraceful 
outline.  (Of  these  strange  people  I  hope  to  speak  more 
fully  on  a  future  occasion.)  Presently  we  came  to  a  rocky 
district,  overgrown  with  dwarf  oaks,  thorns,  and  thistles, 
and  then  reached  the"  fertile  plain  of  Akka,  traversed  by 
the  blue  winding  Kishon  and  its  many  tributaries. 

The  large  fields  of  cotton  had  a  very  pretty  efi'ect,  for 
they  were  in  their  full  beauty.  The  bushes  are  about  two 
feet  high,  the  stems  are  reddish,  the  leaves  are  of  the  color 
of  the  maple  in  the  Spring-time,  the  blossom  looks  as  if  it 
were  made  of  butterflies'  wings,  white  and  spotted.  "When 
these  white  wings  fall,  a  green  bulb,  in  a  triangular  cup,  is 
exposed ;  this  grows  to  about  an  inch  in  diameter,  and 
changes  to  a  rich,  glossy,  chestnut  color,  and,  gradually  be- 
coming harsh,  splits  into  three  parts,  when  soft  downy  cot- 
ton bursts  from  it.  Saleh  gathered  a  branch  for  me,  in- 
cluding specimens  of  the  plant  in  these  three  distinct  stages. 
My  brother  told  me  that  the  Arabs  do  not  cultivate  the 
long-staple  cotton — which  is  most  valued  in  England — be- 
cause it  requires  so  much  care  in  picking ;  for  the  pods 
must  be  gathered  as  soon  as  they  ripen,  and  as  they  do  not 
ripen  all  at  once,  the  harvest  necessarily  extends  over  two 
or  three  weeks;  whereas  the  short-staple  cotton  gives  the 
cultivator  very  little  trouble,  for  the  pods  are  not  injured 
by  being  left  on  the  tree  after  they  are  ripe,  and  the  harvest 
does  not  commence  till  nearly  every  pod  is  ready  for  pick- 
ing ;  the  consequence  is  that  it  is  very  soon  over.  This 
inferior  cotton  does  very  well  for  native  use,  and  to  fill  the 
Arab  mattresses,  and  lehafis,  or  quilts;  but  it  is  not  of 
much  commercial  value. 

If  the  plain  of  Akka  were  cultivated  with  skill  and 
energy  it  would  yield  abundantly.  Under  the  present 
system  the  soil  produces,  in  Winter,  wheat,  barley,  beans, 
lentils,  peas,  and  tobacco ;  and  in  the  Summer-time  cotton, 


160  DOMESTIC  LIFE  IN   PALESTINE. 

Besame,  millet,  and  many  kinds  of  cucumbers.  Poppy, 
mallows,  and  various  herbs  enliven  it,  while  all  the  hills 
around  are  suitable  for  vineyards,  olive-groves,  and  orchards. 
Flax,  asparagus,  gentian,  scammony,  and  many  other  plants, 
valuable  in  medicine,  grow  wild  there,  and  the  marshes  of 
the  plain  abound  with  kali,  the  ashes  of  which,  mixed  with 
olive  or  sesame  oil,  are  converted  into  soap.  The  villages 
of  this  district  are  inhabited  by  Moslems,  Christians,  and 
Druzes,  and  a  few  Jews.  They  pay  heavy  taxes  to  the 
Government  in  wheat,  barley,  and  money,  and  are  bound  to 
furnish  camels,  horses,  or  mules  whenever  the  Pasha  re- 
quires them. 

We  crossed  a  spring,  round  which  tall  reeds  and  short, 
soft  grass  grew.  Thousands  of  edible  snails  were  clinging 
to  the  stems  of  some  straggling  bushes.  Wily,  long-rooted 
marram-grass  and  sea-holly — eryngium  maritimum — tama- 
risks, and  willows  bound  the  sandy  soil,  and  kept  it  from 
drifting.  We  passed  over  some  sand-hills,  on  which  were 
a  few  scattered  plants,  with  thick,  downy,  whitish  leaves 
and  yellow  blossoms.  Here  we  took  leave  of  our  Shefa 
'Amer  friends,  and  they  returned  to  their  olive -groves. 

We  were  soon  on  the  sea-shore.  Two  English  merchant 
steamers  were  just  entering  the  port  of  Haifa.  We  can- 
tered to  the  Kishon  and  crossed  over  it,  by  carefully  keep- 
ing on  the  bar  of  sand  which  encircles  the  mouth  of  the 
river,  sweeping  out  far  into  the  sea.  The  water  was  above 
our  horses'  knees,  and  now  and  then  an  advancing  wave 
covered  us  with  spray. 

We  rode  quickly  along  by  the  edge  of  the  water,  with 
the  palm-grove  and  the  fruit-gardens  on  our  left  hand,  and 
the  rippling  waves  on  our  right.  We  entered  the  town  at 
a  quarter  to  nine,  just  in  time  to  receive  two  English  mer- 
chant captains,  at  the  Vice-Consulate,  where  poor  Katrine, 
our  soi  disant  mother,  welcomed  us  with  tears  of  joy,  say- 
ing, "  Praised  be  God !  my  children  have  returned  to  me 
in  safety." 


LITE  m  HAIFA.  161 


CHAPTER  YII. 

LIFE  IN  HAIFA. 

On  Tuesday,  October  23,  1855,  a  Turkish  steamer  from 
Constantinople  entered  the  port  of  Haifa,  bringing  a  new 
Pasha  for  Akka,  with  his  harem,  and  suite  of  thirty  indi- 
viduals, including  an  Armenian  doctor.  The  chief  people 
of  Akka  came  to  meet  him,  and  our  little  town  was  in  an 
unusual  state  of  excitement.  My  brother  went  to  welcome 
his  Excellency,  who  afterward  called  at  the  Consulate  with 
twelve  attendants. 

Newly- appointed  Pashas  may  sometimes  be  persuaded 
into  doing  some  good  in  their  Pashalics;  and,  at  the  com- 
mencement of  their  reigns,  choked-up  fountains  flow,  broken 
cisterns  are  repaired,  and  aqueducts  are  kept  in  order,  but 
only  for  a  very  little  while.  On  the  "  new-broom "  prin- 
ciple, the  Consuls  earnestly  urged  the  new  Pasha  to  give 
orders  for  the  cleansing  of  the  guttered  streets  of  Haifa, 
some  of  which  were  little  better  than  open  sewers,  and  in 
a  dangerously-unwholesome  state.  They  also  advised  the 
removal  of  the  dust-heaps  by  the  sea-shore,  which  had  been 
allowed  to  grow  into  broad  barricades,  where  vegetable 
refuse  and  all  sorts  of  filth  were  thrown.  The  appeal  was 
favorably  heard,  the  work  actually  commenced  immediately, 
and  Haifa  underwent  sweeping  and  scraping,  probably  for 
the  first  time  in  its  existence.  Men  and  boys  ran  hither 
and  thither  with  baskets  of  rubbish.  Beks  and  Consuls 
bustled  about,  giving  orders,  and  the  dust-heaps  were  by 
degrees  shoveled  into  the  sea. 

The  Europeans  and  the  upper  class  of  Arabs  rejoiced  at 
the  prospect  of  living  in  a  comparatively  clean  town,  but 
the  majority  considered  the  reformation  quite  unnecessary, 

14 


162  DOMESTIC  LIFE  IN   PALESTINE. 

and  grumblingly  prophesied  that  some  harm  would  come  to 
Haifa  if  such  innovations  were  permitted. 

Late  on  Thursday  evening,  Mohammed  Bek  camo  to  the 
Consulate,  lamenting  the  loss  of  a  gold  chain,  with  his  sig- 
net ring  on  it.  In  the  East  more  importance  is  attached  to 
the  impression  of  a  seal  than  to  a  signature.  Mohammed 
Bek  feared  that  some  improper  use  might  be  made  of  his 
ring  by  the  finder,  so  a  declaration  of  the  loss  was  drawn 
up  by  Yusef  Anton,  the  Governor's  Secretary,  signed  by 
the  Bek,  and  attested  by  my  brother.  Mohammed  told  us 
that  he  had  missed  his  chain  in  the  bazar,  when  surrounded 
by  a  crowd  of  boys,  to  whom  he  was  giving  instructions 
about  the  street-cleaning.  It  was  a  very  fine  night,  and, 
half  in  joke,  half  in  earnest,  I  ofi^ered  to  seek  for  the  lost 
treasure.  He  took  me  at  my  word,  and  we  went  out  all 
together.  The  town  was  perfectly  still,  the  bazar  was  de- 
serted, and  as  bright  and  clean  as  moonlight  and  the  scav- 
engers of  Haifa  could  make  it;  but,  after  all,  I  was  not  so 
fortunate  as  to  find  the  ring. 

As  we  returned  homeward,  the  silence  was  suddenly 
broken  by  the  wildly-wailing  and  shrieking  voices  of  women, 
announcing  that  a  death  had  just  taken  place.  Their  shrill, 
mournful  cries  rang  in  my  ears  all  night. 

On  the  following  morning,  October  26th,  very  early,  I 
looked  from  the  window,  and  saw  a  bier  close  to  the  door 
of  a  neighboring  house.  It  was  a  painted  wooden  stand, 
about  seven  feet  by  two,  raised  slightly  on  four  legs,  with 
a  low  gallery  round  it,  formed  of  uprights  far  apart,  and 
two  cross-bars.  Two  strong  poles  projected  at  each  end 
from  the  corners.  Above  it  a  canopy  was  raised,  made  of 
freshly-gathered,  elastic  palm-branches.  They  were  bent 
like  half-hoops,  and  then  interlaced  and  secured  length- 
ways, with  straight  fronds.  I  sketched  it,  and  presently  I 
saw  the  dead  body  of  a  man,  handsomely  dressed,  brought 
out  and  placed  upon  it.  His  face  was  covered  with  a  shawl. 
Four  men  lifted  the  bier  from  the  ground,  and,  resting  the 
poles  on   their  shoulders,  bore  it  to  the  mosque.     After  a 


ARMENIAN    REMEDY  FOR  CHOLERA.  163 

little  while  it  was  carried  slowly  along,  passing  the  Con- 
sulate on  its  way  to  the  Moslem  burial-ground,  preceded 
by  about  forty  men,  solemnly  silent,  and  followed  by  at 
least  fifty  women  and  children  shrieking  wildly,  singing, 
and  screaming. 

Between  the  palm-fronds  I  could  plainly  see  the  figure 
of  the  dead  man.  The  head  was  foremost,  and  slightly 
raised.  I  could  not  help  thinking  that,  if  a  voice  endued 
with  power  to  awaken  the  dead,  would  tell  the  mother  and 
the  widow  not  to  weep,  and  order  the  bearers  of  the  bier  to 
stand  still,  and  say  to  the  dead  man,  "  J.rise,"  it  would  be 
in  his  fete-day  dress  that  he  would  sit  up  under  the  canopy 
of  palms,  and  begin  to  speak.     See  Luke  vii,  11-15. 

I  made  inquiry  about  the  deceased,  and  found  that  he 
was  a  respectable  Moslem,  of  about  twenty-four  years  of 
age,  and  had  left  a  wife  and  two  children.  He  had  died 
just  before  midnight,  after  a  few  hours'  illness,  so  violent, 
that  the  Arab  doctor  pronounced  it  a  case  of  cholera. 
There  had  been  several  very  sudden  deaths  in  Haifa  within 
a  few  weeks. 

In  the  course  of  the  day  I  became  very  ill.  Fr^re  Jo- 
seph, the  Convent  doctor,  was  sent  for.  He  came  and  ad- 
ministered powerful  doses  of  opium.  The  next  day  I  was 
worse  and  very  weak.  He  ordered  emetics  and  bleeding, 
but  I  decidedly  declined  both,  and  dispensed  with  his  at- 
tendance. My  brother  prescribed  hot  baths,  and  mustard 
and  vinegar  poultices,  and  I  slept,  but  grew  weaker  and 
weaker.  At  three  o'clock  on  Sunday  morning,  October 
29th.  he  sent  his  kawass  to  Akka  for  a  doctor,  as  a  last  re- 
source. He  wrote  to  the  Pasha,  and,  ill  as  I  was,  I  could 
not  help  laughing  at  the  letter,  on  hearing  it  literally  trans- 
lated into  English.  It  contained  a  request  that  his  Excel- 
lency would  allow  his  private  doctor,  the  Armenian,  to 
proceed  to  Haifa  to  attend  the  '■^  girl  brother  of  the  English 
Vice-Consul,  who  was  attacked  with  a  slight  beauty,  or 
prettiness."  This  is  the  polite  Turkish  form  of  alluding  to 
illness,  when  woman  is  the  subject  of  it. 


164  DOMESTIC  LIFE  IN  PALESTINE. 

Within  a  short  time  the  doctor  came  with  strict  orders 
from  the  Pasha  not  to  leave  me  till  I  was  well.  He  spoke 
Italian  fluently,  as  well  as  Turkish  and  Greek.  He  was 
full  of  persevering,  quiet  energy  and  good-will,  which  in- 
spired me  with  confidence  immediately.  He  administered 
small  doses  of  castor  oil,  well  mixed  with  sugar,  water,  gum 
arable,  and  magnesia,  in  equal  proportions,  and  prescribed 
linseed  and  mustard  poultices.  He  prepared  stiff,  sweet 
starch,  and  some  meal  porridge  with  a  little  magnesia  in  it, 
and  gave  them,  to  me  in  small  quantities  now  and  then, 
with  lime-flower  water  to  drink.  He  did  not  leave  the 
house  for  three  days  and  nights,  and  by  Thursday,  thanks 
to  his  skill  and  Katrine's  care,  I  was  quite  cured  of  my 
"  slight  prettiness,"  which  was  of  a  dangerous  kind,  and 
said  to  be  cholera. 

We  met  with  great  sympathy  from  our  neighbors.  On 
the  evening  when  I  first  left  my  room  a  company  of  sing- 
ers came  on  to  the  terrace  to  serenade  me,  improvising 
songs  of  rejoicing,  and  praying  that  I  might  soon  "  walk 
forth  in  the  gardens,  to  breathe  the  air  with  strength  and 
gladness  of  heart." 

On  the  1st  of  November  I  saw  an  immense  number  of 
swallows  perched  on  the  house-tops  and  on  the  ropes  of 
the  flagstaffs.  I  was  told  that  they  had  been  gathering 
there  for  several  days.  Before  evening  I  saw  them  all 
assemble  and  take  flight  toward  the  south.  They  looked 
like  a  dusky  cloud  moving  swiftly  through  the  air. 

Our  friend,  Saleh  Sekhali,  and  his  family,  also  migrated. 
They  went  to  Nazareth,  for  they  feared  the  cholera,  and 
tried  to  persuade  us  to  accompany  them. 

The  most  unhealthy  period  in  Palestine  is  that  which 
occurs  after  the  falling  of  the  first  few  autumnal  showers,* 

'■"'•The  "early  rain"  spokon  of  in  the  Bible  refers,  I  believe,  to  the  autumnal 
showers,  which  are  never  very  violent.  They  fall  gently,  and  by  degrees,  and  revive 
the  parched  and  burnt-up  earth  after  the  Summer  drought,  and  enable  the  peas- 
ants to  sow  wheat  and  barley.  In  Deuteronomy  it  is  called  the  "  first  rain ;"  and 
Joel  says,  "Be  glad  and  rejoice  in  the  Lord  your  God,  for  he  hath  given  you  the 
/ormer  rain  moderately." 

The  Winter  rain  usually  falls  heavily  duriug  November,  December,  and  early  in 


PANIC  IN  HAIFA.  166 

wliicli  usher  in  the  rainy  season,  and  it  lasts  till  the  rain 
falls  regularly  and  in  abundance.  This  interval  does  not 
generally  exceed  two  or  three  weeks,  but  when  it  is  pro- 
longed— as  in  the  year  1855,  of  which  I  am  writing — 
fevers  or  other  epidemics  prevail. 

On  the  2d  of  November,  a  strong  sirocco  wind,  hot,  dry, 
and  scorching,  as  if  it  came  from  a  furnace,  warped  our 
books,  and  split  and  cracked  our  olive-wood  furniture.  We 
closed  all  the  window-shutters  on  the  eastern  side  of  the 
rooms,  but  we  could  not  exclude  the  fiery  air. 

There  were  four  English  merchant  ships  at  anchor  in  the 
port,  as  well  as  several  small  Greek  brigs.  The  masters 
complained,  in  no  very  gentle  terms,  of  the  injury  done  by 
the  fierce  hot  wind  to  the  woodwork  and  fittings  of  their 
vessels. 

An  English  captain,  on  the  point  of  embarking,  came  in, 
saying,  "  I  hope  you  will  give  me  a  clean  bill  of  health, 
Consul."  "  As  clean  as  I  can,"  he  answered  :  "  but  I  must 
state,  '  Six  deatlis  within  six  days — sudden^  and,  reported 
cholera,^  " 

After  this  the  street-cleaning  was  for  a  time  abandoned, 
and  I  noticed  funeral  processions  almost  daily,  sometimes 
going  from  the  mosque  out  at  the  east  gate  to  the  Moslem 
burial-ground,  sometimes  from  the  Greek  or  Latin  churches 
slowly  walking  toward  the  Christian  cemeteries  through 
the  west  gate.  Moslems  are  always  carried  to  the  grave 
in  the  open  bier,  head  foremost,  and  buried  in  ordinary 
costume.  I  shuddered  the  first  time  that  I  saw  a  body 
thus  committed  to  the  earth,  it  looked  so  much  like  being 
buried  alive. 

Janiiary;  and  then  it  ceases  till  March  or  April,  when  Spring  showers  are  eagerly 
looked  for  and  welcomed,  for  they  give  strength  and  vigor  to  the  ripening  crops. 
This  is  the  "latter  rain;"  for  it  is  written,  "The  Lord  your  God  will  cause  to 
come  down  for  you  the  latter  rain  in  the  first  month,"  which  is  the  month  called  in 
Hebrew  "  Ahib,"  or  "the  month  of  young  ears  of  corn,"  and  corresponds  with 
the  end  of  March  and  the  beginning  of  April. 

"  Behold  the  husbandman  waiteth  for  the  precious  fruit  of  the  earth  and  hath 
long  patience  for  it,  till  he  receive  the  early  and  the  latter  rain." 

In  the  Summer-time,  that  is,  from  May  till  September,  no  rain  is  ever  seen  in 
Palestine.  ^ 


166  DOMESTIC  LIFE  IN   PALESTINE. 

The  upper  classes  of  Christians  are  generally  interred  in 
coffins.  The  coffin  is  usually  borne  by  four  or  six  men, 
preceded  by  priests  walking  under  canopies,  and  surrounded 
by  crowds  of  people,  chanting,  bearing  embroidered  ban- 
ners and  a  large  cross,  and  sometimes  accompanied  by 
surpliced  boys,  swinging  incense.  At  a  little  distance  a 
troop  of  women  follow,  singing  and  screaming  wildly;  for 
the  priests  in  vain  put  their  veto  on  the  attendance  of  fe- 
male mourners. 

There  was  not  one  case  of  cholera  in  the  Jewish  com- 
munity. 

Deaths  were  most  frequent  in  the  crowded  Moslem 
quarter,  but  the  Moslems  did  not  seem  to  suffer  much  from 
fear.  Perhaps  their  reliance  on  the  doctrine  of  fatalism 
made  them  calm  and  apparently  resigned.  On  the  other 
hand,  among  the  Christians,  a  demoralizing  panic  quickly 
spread. 

By  degrees  nearly  all  the  Europeans  went  up  to  the 
Convent,  where  they  established  a  strict  quarantine.  Many 
of  the  Arabs  went  to  Nazareth  and  Shefii  'Amer.  Alto- 
gether, above  a  thousand  people  fled,  and  the  Christian 
quarter  looked  quite  deserted.  It  was  remarked  that  there 
was  only  one  hat  left  in  the  town — that  is,  only  one  Frank — 
alluding  to  my  brother,  who  remained  at  his  post  endeav- 
oring to  reanimate  the  people.  He  went  from  house  to 
house,  giving  advice  and  simple  medicines,  and,  as  he  was 
not  quite  convinced  that  the  epidemic  was  cholera,  he  ex- 
amined two  or  three  bodies  immediately  after  death.  Their 
appearance  confirmed  the  current  report. 

The  Arab  word  for  cholera,  or  the  pest,  is  "  Howa-el- 
Asfar,"  which  signifies  "  the  yellow  wind."  Flags  pro- 
claiming quarantine  are  yellow ;  is  it  possible  that  the  color 
was  selected  on  account  of  this  name  ?  The  Arabs  told  me 
that  the  worst  cases  of  cholera  occurred  at  the  change  of 
the  moon,  and  that  people  who  were  attacked  then  never 
recovered !  The  women  seldom  left  their  houses,  except 
to   follow  funerals;    and    the    men    grew  more    and    more 


AN  ORIENTAL    TAILOR.  167 

dispirited.  Even  our  little  tailor,  Suleiman  Shefa  Amery, 
the  merriest  of  the  merry,  the  drollest  of  the  droll,  was  at 
last  infected  with  the  general  fear.  His  springing,  self-sat- 
isfied step  became  slow  and  cautious,  and  his  voice  was  sub- 
dued to  a  whisper.  He  had  been  in  the  habit  of  coming  to 
the  Vice-Consulate,  now  and  then,  to  show  me  his  work — ■ 
embroidered  jackets  and  trowsers  for  the  trousseau  of  a 
bride,  or  a  tobacco-pouch  for  a  Bek.  He  was  one  of  my 
many  self-constituted  teachers,  and  was  at  the  same  time 
profoundly  respectful  and  deferential,  and  yet  amusingly 
impertinent.  He  was  the  heau  ideal  of  an  Oriental  tailor, 
and  looked  as  if  he  had  just  walked  out  of  one  of  the  pages, 
of  the  "  Arabian  Nights'  Entertainment  " — good-looking, 
and  quick  in  every  movement.  He  was  always  ready,  un- 
asked, to  do  a  service — light  a  pipe,  trim  a  lamp,  pick  up 
a  pencil,  smooth  the  pillows  and  cushions  of  the  divan, 
fetch  a  glass  of  water,  or  proffer  an  opinion.  He  looked 
with  a  quick  and  critical  eye  on  every  one's  costume,  and 
valued  each  article  of  apparel  unhesitatingly,  as  if  speaking 
half  to  himself  and  half  to  the  wearer. 

I  used  to  learn  a  greater  number  of  Arabic  words  from 
him  in  an  hour  than  from  any  one  else  in  a  day.  He  could 
neither  read  nor  write,  but  his  memory  was  acute.  He 
remembered  perfectly  the  promiscuous  vocabulary  which 
he  taught  me.  He  used  to  ask  me,  each  time  he  came, 
the  words  he  had  told  me  on  previous  occasions;  and  at 
every  successful  answer  from  me  he  glanced  round  the 
room,  expecting  a  look  of  approbation  for  himself,  and  one 
for  his  pupil. 

He  showed  me  how  to  do  all  sorts  of  Syrian  needlework. 
He  made  very  beautiful  designs  for  embroidery,  chiefly 
conventional  foliage.  He  first  stiffens  the  cloth  or  silk,  by 
sewing  thick  paper  at  the  back  of  it;  then,  with  a  piece  of 
hard,  white  native  soap,  rubbed  to  a  fine  point,  he  draws, 
with  a  firm  hand,  a  few  graceful  lines  and  intersecting 
circles  within  any  given  space.  He  completes  the  design, 
in  the  course  of  working  it,  with  gold  thread,  and  he  never 


168  DOMESTIC  LIFE   IN   PALESTINE. 

by  any  chance  makes  two  patterns  precisely  alike.  He 
seemed  thoroughly  to  enjoy  his  work:  but  now  even  he 
was  changed — his  brave,  self-confident  spirit  had  left  him. 
He  no  longer  took  delight  in  his  needle  or  gold  thread. 
He  told  me,  regretfully,  that  some  of  his  best  embroidery 
was  in  the  burial-ground ;  for  men  and  women,  Moslems 
and  Christians,  are  often  shrouded  in  their  bridal  robes  or 
fete-day  dresses.  Suleiman  was  one  of  the  few  Arabs  who 
seemed  to  think  this  was  a  very  great  pity. 

When  costly  garments  are  buried,  the  grave  is  generally 
watched  for  some  time,  for  fear  it  should  be  rifled. 

Suleiman  fled  for  a  short  time  to  Shefa  'Amer,  his  native 
place,  and  happily  escaped  cholera. 

One  day  we  rode  up  to  the  Convent.  Two  hundred  of 
the  people  of  Haifa  had  taken  refuge  there.  The  gardens, 
which  had  before  looked  so  quiet  and  monastic,  were  en- 
livened by  little  groups  of  Arabs,  smoking  under  the  trees, 
or  strolling  about.  All  the  rooms  were  occupied.  The 
French  Consul  came  to  meet  us,  but  carefully  avoided  con- 
tact, and  led  the  way  to  the  reception-room,  where  pastiles 
were  burning.  His  wife  and  children  came  to  see  us,  but 
remained  at  a  distance.  They  said  that,  while  people  were 
dying  of  cholera  in  Haifa,  they,  the  voluntary  exiles,  were 
almost  expiring  of  eniiui  and  fear  on  Mount  Carmel. 

By  degrees,  the  health  of  Haifa  somewhat  improved,  and 
a  large  proportion  of  cholera  cases  were  cured.  Powdered 
charcoal,  made  of  bread  burnt  in  an  open  crucible,  was 
taken  by  many  people  as  a  preventive ;  and,  as  far  as  I 
could  judge,  it  seemed  to  be  eff'ectual.  A  teaspoonful,  or 
less,  in  a  cup  of  sugarless  coffee,  was  the  usual  daily  dose. 

On  November  14th,  we  went  for  a  trip  in  the  interior, 
with  Colonel  and  the  Hon.  Mrs.  "VValpole.  He  claimed  my 
brother's  aid  in  seeking  for  Winter-quarters  for  his  regi- 
ment. He  kindly  invited  me  to  go  too;  so,  accompanied 
by  his  Bashi-Bazouks,  and  furnished  with  a  circular  letter 
of  recommendation  from  the  Pasha  to  all  the  governors  in 
his  pashalic,  we  went  to  Shefa  'Amer,  Nazareth,  round  the 


"imps  of  the  yellow  wind."  169 

Lake  of  Tiberias,  and  along  the  valley  of  the  Jordan,  up 
to  the  Anti-Lebanon,  exploring  all  the  old  castles  and 
ruins ;  but  we  did  not  come  very  much  in  contact  with  the 
natives.  The  interest  of  the  tour  is  chiefly  archaeological 
and  architectural,  so  I  will  pass  it  over  here.  We  returned 
to  Haifa  on  the  10th  of  December. 

M.  Zifo,  the  Prussian  Consul,  called  to  welcome  us.  He 
said  that  he  was  the  "  only  hat  in  town,"  and  he  was  de- 
tained by  business,  much  against  his  inclination,  for  cholera 
and  typhus-fever  prevailed.  All  the  people  were  praying 
for  rain.  For  three  days  after  our  return,  there  was  not 
one  death  in  the  town,  and  some  of  the  refugees  came  from 
the  Convent.  The  French  Consul  was  one  of  the  first 
arrivals.  Unhappily,  his  youngest  daughter,  the  pet  and 
plaything  of  the  family,  who  used  to  lisp  out  Arabic  and 
French  so  prettily,  was  immediately  attacked  with  cholera, 
and  died  after  twelve  hours'  suffering. 

On  the  15th  the  panic  was  revived ;  but  a  curious  cir- 
cumstance suddenly  restored  tranquillity  to  the  minds  of 
the  Arabs.  On  the  night  of  Sunday,  the  16th  of  Decem- 
ber, a  woman  dreamed  that  she  saw  four  malignant  imps. 
Each  one  held  a  stone,  with  an  inscription  on  it,  in  his 
hand.  She  said  to  them,  "What  do  you  want?  Why  are 
you  here  to  trouble  me?"  They  said,  speaking  as  with  one 
voice,  "  We  have  come  to  throw  four  stones."  Then  she 
said,  "  Hasten  to  throw  your  stones,  and  go  in  peace." 
One  was  thrown  at  her — the  others  flew  in  different  direc- 
tions. She  told  her  dream  the  next  day,  and  seemed  very 
much  alarmed.  The  imps  of  her  dream  were  said,  by  the 
interpreters  thereof,  to  be  "  imps  of  the  yellow  wind.''  The 
majority  of  the  people  believed  that  there  would  be  only 
four  more  deaths  in  Haifa  from  cholera.  On  the  18th, 
fourteen  individuals  were  attacked;  but  only  two  died,  one 
of  whom  was  the  dreamer.  On  the  19th,  there  were  two 
more  deaths,  the  last  which  were  reported.  The  people 
were  reassured,  and  flocked  back  from  'Akka,  Galilee,  and 
Carmel.     But  the  wished-for  season  of  rain  had  not  set  in. 

15 


170  DOMESTIC  LIFE  IN  PALESTINE. 

Provisions  were  dear,  and  milk  was  very  unwholesome,  on 
account  of  tlie  scarcity  of  herbage. 

Several  ships  from  Y^fa  had  taken  refuge  in  the  port  of 
HS,ifa.  The  winds  were  so  wild  and  contrary,  that  two 
ships  were  wrecked  off  'Akka,  and  two  boats  lost  in  the 
bay.  The  west  wind  was  so  strong  for  a  day  or  two,  that 
it  filled  the  mouth  of  the  River  Kishon  with  sand,  so  that 
it  could  be  crossed  easily  on  foot.  Then  suddenly  the  east 
wind  rose,  and  swept  the  bar  of  sand  quite  away,  so  that 
the  river  was  twelve  feet  deep  at  the  usual  place  of  fording, 
and  consequently  impassable. 

At  Christmas  the  rain  came ;  but  it  was  rain  such  as  I 
had  never  seen,  except  in  strange  old  pictures  of  the  Deluge. 
The  town  was  traversed  in  all  directions  by  rapid  streams 
of  mud  aud  water.  Rain  came  in  at  the  ill-made  windows, 
and  our  shutters  and  doors  were  wrenched  from  their  hinges 
by  the  wild  wind.  Fortunately,  the  house  for  which  we 
had  been  waiting  was  now  ready,  and  weather-tight ;  and 
we  managed  to  move  into  it,  during  the  short  intervals 
between  the  torrents.  I  had  to  ride  there,  although  it  was 
only  at  a  very  short  distance.  Most  of  the  Arabs  went 
about  barefooted,  with  the  water  far  above  their  ankles. 

During  the  wet  season,  there  were  about  three  days  of 
nearly  continual  rain,  and  three  days  of  sunshine,  altern- 
ately. 

Our  new  house,  the  rooms  of  which  were  built  round  a 
corridored  court,  was  next  door  to  the  French  Consulate. 
The  Consul's  wife — a  Syrian  lady — kindly  initiated  me  by 
degrees  into  all  the  mysteries  of  Oriental  housekeeping. 

Furnishing  was  a  very  simple  affair.  In  one  of  the  large 
empty  rooms  a  native  Jewish  upholsterer  was  set  to  work 
to  take  to  pieces  all  the  mattresses,  cushions,  and  lehaffs. 
Then,  with  a  little  machine,  he  separated  the  cotton  which 
had  become  hard  and  close ;  he  tore  it  and  combed  it  till 
it  was  transformed  into  a  fleecy  cloud.  He  quickly  remade 
the  mattresses,  fitting  them  to  the  iron  bedsteads  and  divans, 
and    cleverly  quilted   a  stock   of  coverlets — lehaffs.     His 


OUR   NEW   HOUSE.  171 

naked  feet  were  almost  as  busy  as  liis  fingers.  They  served 
him  to  hold  his  work.  "When  he  wanted  to  wind  a  skein 
of  cotton  he  always  fixed  it  on  his  long,  pliant  toes,  and 
used  them  as  pegs  when  he  doubled  and  twisted  the  thread ; 
in  fact,  in  many  ways  he  made  them  useful. 

In  the  mean  time  an  Arab  carpenter  was  engaged  in  saw- 
ing planks  and  joining  them  together,  ready  to  place  on 
low  trestles  round  the  rooms.  On  the  rude  benches  thus 
formed,  mattresses,  about  a  yard  wide,  and  cushions,  cov- 
ered with  chintz  or  Manchester  prints,  were  arranged. 
Deep,  full  borders,  sewed  on  to  the  outer  edge  of  the  mat- 
tresses, quite  concealed  the  rough  woodwork  underneath. 
This  is  all  the  mystery  of  the  grand  Turkish  divans.  Two 
native  Jewesses  assisted  me  with  the  musketo  and  window 
curtains. 

Reed  mats,  to  cover  the  cemented  and  stone  floors,  were 
made  for  us  at  'Akka  according  to  measure.  I  furnished 
one  little  room  as  nearly  in  English  style  as  I  could  under 
the  circumstances,  but  the  rest  of  the  house  was  semi-Ori- 
ental. There  were  no  fireplaces  in  any  of  the  rooms.  In 
the  kitchen  there  was  a  row  of  cooking-stoves  fit  for  stewing 
and  baking ;  similar,  probably,  to  "  the  oven  and  ranges  for 
pots,"  referred  to  in  Leviticus  xi,  35. 

There  was  a  good  well  in  the  corner  of  the  court,  and  a 
little  bell  tinkled  merrily  every  time  the  bucket  was  in 
motion.  The  former  occupants  of  the  house  were  Arabs, 
and  they  had  left  for  my  benefit  a  fine  henna-tree — lawsonia. 
It  is  very  like  the  privet,  but  the  blossom  is  more  yellow 
and  delicate,  and  the  scent  is  rather  oppressive.  The  green 
leaves — which  produce  the  dye — are  dried,  crumbled  to  a 
fine  powder,  and  carefully  preserved. 

The  stocking  of  the  storeroom  was  the  next  considera- 
tion. It  soon  contained  provisions  for  the  Winter.  A  case 
of  maccaroni,  a  basket  of  Egyptian  rice,  and  two  sacks  of 
wheat,  one  of  which  I  sent  to  be  ground  by  millstones 
moved  by  cattle.  Afterward  I  had  the  meal  sifted  at  the 
house,  the  smeed  was  set  apart  for  white  bread,  etc.,  and 


172  DOMESTIC  LIFE  IN  PALESTINE. 

the  remainder  was  stored  for  making  Arab  loaves  for  the 
servants. 

The  large  terra-cotta  jars,  glazed  inside,  and  rough  with- 
out, ranged  round  the  room,  often  made  me  think  of  Ali 
Baba  and  the  forty  thieves.  One  held  the  smeed,  another 
held  flour,  another  bran,  a  fourth  oil,  and  some  rather 
smaller  ones  contained  olives  and  goats' -milk  cheese  pre- 
served in  oil,  and  a  store  of  cooking  butter.  Oranges  and 
lemons  garnished  the  shelves.  Dried  figs  strung  on  thin 
cord,  and  pomegranates  tied  one  by  one  to  ropes,  hung  in 
festoons  from  the  rafters,  and  the  bundles  of  dried  herbs  of 
Carmel  smelled  sweetly. 

My  kind  neighbor  taught  me  how  to  add  to  my  stores 
at  the  right  seasons,  to  make  fruit  preserves,  to  concentrate 
the  essence  of  tomatoes,  and  to  convert  wheat  into  starch — 
by  steeping  it  in  water,  straining  it,  and  drying  it  in  the 
sun — for  making  sweet  dishes,  as  well  as  for  the  laundry. 
The  Arabs  do  not  starch  or  iron  their  clothes,  so  I  had  a 
little  difficulty  at  first  in  procuring  help  in  the  "getting 
up"  of  fine  linen.  However,  an  Arab  youth,  who  had  once 
lived  with  a  semi-European  tailor,  and  professed  to  know 
how  to  handle  an  iron,  though  he  acknowledged  that 
starching  was  a  mystery  to  him,  volunteered  assistance,  and 
did  his  best.  Subsequently  a  young  Arab  girl  in  our  serv- 
ice was  taught  the  art  by  an  Abyssinian  slave,  the  servant 
of  a  European  neighbor,  and  she  became  very  skillful. 

Arabs  only  use  starch  for  making  a  sort  of  blancmange, 
and  they  shrink  from  the  idea  of  stifi*ening  linen  with  it, 
for  they  have  a  strong  respect  for  wheat  in  any  shape.  If 
a  morsel  of  bread  fall  to  the  ground,  an  Arab  will  gather 
it  up  with  his  right  hand,  kiss  it,  touch  his  forehead  with 
it,  and  place  it  in  a  recess  or  on  a  wall,  where  the  fowls  of 
the  air  may  find  it,  for  they  say,  "We  must  not  tread 
under  foot  the  gift  of  God."  I  have  seen  this  reverence 
exhibited  constantly,  by  all  classes  of  the  people,  by  mas- 
ters, servants,  and  even  by  little  children,  Moslems,  and 
Christians. 


DEATH   OF  IBRAHIM.  173 

I  was  so  busy  that  I  had  no  time  to  feel  my  strange 
isolation.  The  mornings  were  devoted  to  household  ar- 
rangements and  lessons  in  Arabic.  Visitors  and  visiting 
often  occupied  me  after  midday,  and  in  fine  weather  I  en- 
joyed a  ride  or  a  stroll  with  my  brother  before  sunset,  and 
pleasant  evenings  with  him  and  his  friends.  When  we 
were  at  last  alone  together  we  used  to  compare  notes  of  our 
several  occupations,  observations,  and  adventures  of  the  day. 
His  long  residence  in  the  East  enabled^  him  to  explain 
some  of  the  intricacies  and  seeming  contradictions  in  the 
characters  of  the  Arabs,  and  to  guide  me  in  my  inter- 
CQurse  with  them.  In  outline  during  the  Winter  one  day 
nearly  resembled  another,  but  the  details  were  always 
pleasantly  varied. 

Ibrahim  Sekhali,  my  brother's  secretary — and  also  my 
writing-master — an  energetic,  clever  young  man  of  the 
Greek  Church,  went  to  'Akka  like  many  others  to  avoid 
cholera.  'Akka  was  over-crowded,  and  small-pox  broke 
out.  Poor  Ibrahim  caught  it,  and  died  suddenly  on  the 
16th  of  January,  1856.  His  death  threw  a  gloom  over 
Haifa,  for  he  was  a  general  favorite  among  Christians  and 
Moslems. 

On  the  17th,  early  in  the  morning,  Khalil  Sekhali,  the 
father  of  Ibrahim,  called  on  us.  He  was  a  very  stout,  tall, 
robust-looking  man,  and  wore  a  long  robe  or  open  pelisse, 
and  a  large  white  turban.  His  features  were  regular,  and 
his  beard  long  and  white.  He  looked  grand  in  his  grief, 
and  his  lamentations  for  his  dead  son  were  solemn  and  dig- 
nified. He,  with  my  brother  and  the  chief  people  of  our 
town,  went  toward  'Akka  to  join  the  funeral  cort6ge^  for  it 
was  arranged  that  the  body  should  be  brought  to  Haifa  for 
burial.  All  the  horses  and  donkeys  were  in  requisition, 
and  nearly  all  the  shops  were  closed. 

I  walked  out  to  witness  the  wailing  of  the  widow  and 
her  companions.  They  were  outside  the  East  Gate,  near  to 
the  burial-ground.  About  fifty  or  sixtycvailed  women  sur- 
rounded  the   chief  mourners.     I  was   led   almost  uncoa- 


174  DOMESTIC   LIFE  IN  PALESTINE. 

Bciously  by  little  Katrine  Sekhali  through  the  crowd  to  an 
open  space  in  the  midst.  In  the  center  of  this  space  the 
widow,  young  and  beautiful,  kneeled  on  the  ground.  She  was 
unvailed.  Her  head  was  only  covered  by  a  little  red-cloth 
cap.  Her  long  hair  was  unbraided,  and  fell  over  her  green- 
velvet,  gold-embroidered  jacket.  She  swayed  her  body  to 
and  fro,  tossed  her  head  back,  raised  her  hands  as  if  pas- 
sionately pleading,  then  threw  herself  forward  with  her  face 
to  the  ground,  but  suddenly  started  to  her  feet,  and,  with 
her  dark  eyes  uplifted,  and  her  arms  raised  above  her 
head,  she  commenced  shrieking  wildly,  and  all  the  women 
joined  in  the  piercing  cry.  Presently  she  fell  down  as  if 
exhausted,  and  there  was  silence  for  a  moment.  Then  a 
few  of  the  women  in  the  inner  circle  rose,  threw  off  their 
vails,  and  danced  round  her,  singing  and  making  a  rattling, 
tremulous  sound  from  the  throat,  while  the  rest  of  the 
women  joined  in  chorus.  Professional  mourners  kept  up 
the  excitement  by  demonstrations  of  violent  grief,  and  the 
professional  singers  improvised  appropriate  songs.  This 
lasted  for  three  or  four  hours,  and  the  crowd  gradually 
grew  larger.  I  made  my  way  through  it  with  difficulty, 
for  some  of  the  women  had  worked  themselves  into  fits  of 
frenzy  and  hysterics. 

I  observed  that  the  men  who  passed  by  kept  quite  aloof 
from  this  group  of  mourners,  and  made  no  attempt  to  look 
upon  the  unvailed  widow.  My  kawass  stood  afar  off,  wait- 
ing for  me.  On  emerging  from  the  crowd,  I  could  see  the 
funeral  cortege  approaching  along  the  sands.  I  was  informed 
by  a  forerunner  that  the  body  of  Ibrahim  had  been  in- 
terred in  the  'Akka  burial-ground,  as  it  was  considered 
dangerous  to  convey  it  so  far  as  Haifa.  When  the  proces- 
sion was  near  to  the  town,  I  went  up  on  to  the  low  roof  of 
the  custom-house  to  see  it  pass.  First  came  the  kawasses 
of  some  of  the  Consuls,  carrying  their  long,  silver-headed 
sticks  or  poles  draped  with  black ;  then  a  large  party  of 
young  men,  dressed  in  various  colors,  solemnly  silent,  walk- 
ing four  abreast.     At  a  little  distance  from  these,  Ibrahim's 


FUNERAL  PROCESSION.  175 

horse,  without  a  rider,  was  led  by  two  men  slowly  and 
carefully.  Some  of  poor  Ibrahim's  well-remembered  gar- 
ments were  on  the  saddle. 

The  three  brothers  of  Ibrahim  followed  in  a  line;  then 
came  his  nephews  and  cousins,  among  whom  was  our  friend 
Saleh,  all  looking  thoughtful  and  sad.  The  next  mourner 
was  the  mother.  She  sat  cross-legged  on  a  horse,  sup- 
ported by  two  men.  Her  face  was  vailed,  but  her  drooping 
head  expressed  her  grief — she  had  lost  her  favorite  son. 
My  brother,  who  had  a  great  respect  both  for  her  and  the 
deceased,  rode  by  her  side.  Mohammed  Bek  followed,  on 
a  splendid  white  horse,  surrounded  by  a  group  of  Moslems ; 
then  came  the  'Akka  mourners,  headed  by  the  Giammal 
family,  all  on  foot.  Last  of  all,  the  father,  looking  heart- 
broken, rode  slowly  toward  his  bereaved  home. 

When  all  the  men  were  out  of  sight,  the  company  of 
women  entered  the  gates,  shrieking  and  singing.  My 
kawass  retreated  hastily,  and  a  young  Greek  of  Scio,  who 
was  by  my  side,  said,  "  You  can  remain  here  to  see  them 
pass,  but  it  would  not  be  proper  for  me  to  do  so — men  do 
not  watch  processions  of  female  mourners;"  and  he  retired. 

First  came  a  group  of  dancers,  only  slightly  vailed,  mak- 
ing slow  and  graceful  movements,  and  waving  scarfs  and 
kerchiefs,  pausing  now  and  then  in  strange  attitudes,  resting 
for  a  quarter  of  a  minute  at  a  time  like  statues,  and  then 
singing  and  shrieking  wildly,  all  the  company  joining  in 
the  chorus.  The  young  widow  walked  alone,  followed  by 
two  attendants  who  carried  the  orphan  children.  This 
group  was  surrounded  at  a  little  distance  by  the  nearest 
female  relatives  of  Ibrahim.  An  irregular  crowd  of  women 
and  girls  closed  the  procession,  loudly  echoing  the  songs 
of  the  leaders.  Thus  they  went  slowly  through  the  town ; 
and  there  was  loud  wailing  and  mourning  in  the  house  of 
Sekhali  for  seven  days.  But  to  the  silent  grief  of  the 
mother  there  was  no  limit.  She  lived  next  door  to  the 
Consulate,  and  I  often  saw  her.  She  was  completely 
changed.     Her  firm  step    had  suddenly  become  faltering, 


176  DOMESTIC    LIFE   IN  PALESTINE. 

and  her  head  drooped.  She  seldom  spoke,  and  her  only- 
words  were  words  of  lamentation  and  despair.  Little  Ka- 
trine, the  daughter  of  our  friend  Saleh,  touchiugly  de- 
scribed her  great  grief,  saying,  "  I  think  our  aunt  will  die. 
She  has  no  thought  but  for  Ibrahim.  She  does  not  wish  to 
see  any  one  but  Ibrahim.  Always  she  is  kissing  his  coat, 
his  cap,  and  his  gun.  Always  her  face  is  wet  with  tears, 
and  she  will  not  be  comforted.  She  can  not  eat,  and  at 
night  she  is  awake ;  only  a  little  in  the  daytime  she  falls 
asleep,  tired  of  crying  and  of  folding  and  unfolding  all  his 
clothes.     No  one  can  make  her  glad  now." 

Little  Katrine's  fears  were  realized.  The  mother  of 
Ibrahim  died  on.  the  13th  of  February,  fretting  to  the 
last  for  her  dead  son.  I  attended  her  funeral  the  next 
day.  At  an  early  hour  I  saw  the  procession  form.  Men 
carrying  banners,  embroidered  with  sacred  emblems  and 
monograms,  led  the  way.  Then  came  the  Greek  priests. 
One  of  them  bore  a  large  gilt  wooden  cross.  The  body 
was  in  a  dark  coffin,  on  which  three  white  crosses  were 
conspicuous.  It  was  supported  by  six  men.  The  male 
mourners  were  headed  by  the  widower  and  his  three  sons. 
The  women  followed  afar  off.  A  large  number  of  people 
lined  the  road  all  the  way  to  the  church,  and  fell  in  with 
the  funeral  cortege  as  it  passed. 

The  bell  was  tolling  as  I  entered  the  church.  I  went 
up  into  the  women's  gallery,  which  is  very  high,  and  op- 
posite to  the  altar.  I  was  led  to  the  front  of  it,  where 
a  block  of  wood  was  given  to  me  for  a  seat.  The  women, 
all  vailed  and  in  white  sheets,  sat  around  on  the  matted 
floor.  I  looked  down  into  the  church,  through  a  sloping 
wooden  lattice,  at  an  angle  of  about  twenty  degrees  with 
the  ceiling,  and  so  arranged  that  a  view  of  what  was  going 
on  below  could  only  be  obtained  by  leaning  forward  over 
this  lattice,  and  with  the  face  nearly  close  to  it.  Thus 
positioned,  I  could  see  easily. 

The  chancel  was  already  crowded.  A  few  European 
gentlemen,  in  dark  clothes,  looked  conspicuous  among  the 


FUNERAL  SERVICES.  177 

Arabs  in  their  many-colored  garments.  The  chief  female 
mourners,  shrouded  in  white,  were  grouped  all  together  on 
one  side.  The  coffin,  raised  on  high  trestles,  stood  in  the 
center.  A  narrow  space  was  left  round  it.  A  priest  stood 
at  its  head,  slowly  swinging  a  censer,  while  two  others 
chanted  psalms,  and  read  the  service  monotonously  and 
mutteringly.     The  people  responded  loudly. 

Wax-candles  were  distributed  by  the  younger  members 
of  the  Sekhali  family  to  every  one  present.  There  were 
about  three  hundred,  and  a  strange  effect  was  produced 
when  all  the  candles,  as  well  as  the  tapers  fixed  round  the 
coffin,  were  lighted.  Some  looked  pale  and  spirit-like  in 
the  sunshine;  others  were  obscured  in  clouds  of  incense; 
while  the  rest  illuminated  dark  corners,  made  darker  by 
the  dense  crowd. 

Khalil  Sekhali,  the  widower,  and  his  three  sons,  sat 
together  in  a  conspicuous  position  near  the  door  of  the 
sacristy.  Every  one  else  was  standing.  In  obedience  to 
a  signal  from  the  chief-priest,  an  opening  was  made  in 
the  crowd  toward  them.  After  a  few  minutes  of  perfect 
silence,  the  widower  walked  unobstructed  into  the  center 
of  the  church.  He  placed  his  hands  solemnly  on  the 
coffin,  pressed  his  broad  forehead  on  to  the  head  of  it, 
pronounced  a  blessing,  kissed  a  little  Byzantine  picture 
of  Christ  which  was  placed  there,  and  then  returned  to 
his  seat,  bending  his  head  low.  After  another  silent  pause 
the  three  sons  followed  his  example;  and  all  the  nearest 
relatives  came  forward  to  kiss  the  picture.  After  the 
youngest  child  of  the  family  had  been  lifted  up  to  take 
this  farewell,  the  rest  of  the  congregation  crowded  round, 
and  with  less  emotion  and  more  haste  performed  the  same 
ceremony. 

By  degrees  all  but  the  chief  mourners  withdrew,  and 
then  I  went  down  into  the  church  with  the  women.  One 
by  one  they  kissed  the  picture,  muttering  a  short  prayer 
for  the  repose  of  the  soul  of  the  deceased.  Presently  the 
procession  re-formed,  and  went-  out  at  the  West  Gate  to 


178  DOMESTIC  LIFE   IN  PALESTINE. 

the  Greek  burial-ground;  the  women  followed  afar  off, 
singing  and  crying  wildly.  And  again  for  many  days  there 
was  mourning  in  the  house  of  Sekhali. 

But  the  widower  did  not  reject  consolation.  About  a 
year  afterward  he  sent  messengers  to  Nazareth  to  seek  for 
a  wife  for  him,  and  when  all  was  rightly  arranged  he  went 
there  to  be  affianced.  But  a  monetary  difficulty  arose,  and 
the  contract  was  annulled.  Another  bride  was  sought  and 
quickly  chosen,  for  Khalil  said  that  he  was  determined  not 
to  be  disappointed,  nor  to  be  a  laughing-stock  in  Haifa. 
He  was  after  all  actually  betrothed  on  the  very  day  first 
fixed  for  the  ceremony,  and  the  marriage  took  place  soon 
after. 

The  bridegroom  was  about  seventy  and  the  bride  seven- 
teen! I  called  to  welcome  the  young  wife  to  Haifa.  She 
was  very  good-looking,  but  quite  of  the  peasant  class.  She 
had  a  bright  face;  the  forehead  and  chin  were  tattooed; 
her  eyebrows  were  naturally  black  and  well  arched,  and 
her  eyelashes  were  long,  so  that  no  kohl  was  necessary. 
This  peculiarity  is  expressed,  in  Arabic,  in  one  word, 
"  Khala."  Her  countenance  was  ruddy,  and  the  women 
said  of  her,  "The  wife  of  Khalil  is  fair;  roses  grow  upon 
her  cheeks ;  she  does  not  buy  her  roses  in  the  bazar." 
This  is  also  said  of  the  women  of  Shefa  'Amer,  who  are 
generally  bright  and  healthy  in  appearance^  and  use  rouge 
but  rarely.  Khalil  was  comforted.  His  three  sons  and 
their  wives,  with  their  little  ones,  dwelt  with  him  under 
the  same  roof,  and  there  was  rejoicing  in  the  house  when 
a  son  was  born  to  him  in  his  old  age. 

Elias  Sekhali,  the  eldest  son  of  Khalil,  was  studious, 
thoughtful,  clear-headed,  and  logical,  and  universally  liked 
by  Christians  and  Moslems.  He  was  employed  in  the 
French  Consulate.  He  came  very  often  to  see  us,  and  was 
eager  to  obtain  information  about  the  English  Constitution, 
and  the  progress  of  civilization  generally.  He  always  had 
some  amusing  story  or  impressive  parable  to  tell  me  when 
he  found  me  alone.     Many  of  them  were  original.     I  care- 


MOSLEM   MISRULE.  179 

fully  chronicled  all.  He  often  spoke  to  me  on  the  subject 
of  the  government  of  Syria.  He  said  that  there  was  no 
opportunity  for  the  people  to  rise  out  of  their  present 
condition,  while  they  are  ruled  by  officers  who  have  no 
sympathy  with  them,  no  love  for  the  country,  and  no  object 
but  to  enrich  themselves. 

The  Arabs,  under  the  present  system  of  irregular  tax- 
ation, do  not  attempt  to  cultivate  the  land  as  they  would 
do  if  they  were  encouraged  and  protected  by  the  Govern- 
ment. In  many  parts  of  the  country  a  man  will  not  run 
the  risk  of  improving  his  estate.  He  will  not  plant  new 
olive-trees,  nor  extend  his  orchards  and  vineyards,  nor 
employ  many  laborers,  for  fear  of  exciting  the  rapacity 
of  the  Governor  of  his  district;  for  if  a  man  is  supposed 
to  be  rich,  excuses  are  readily  invented  to  impoverish  him; 
debts  are  coined,  or  false  accusations  are  made  against 
him,  and  he  is  thrown  into  prison  till  he  pays  the  sup- 
posed debt  or  a  large  fine.  In  one  particular  instance  the 
Governor  of  a  certain  Moslem  village,  having  exceeded 
even  the  usual  bounds  of  exaction,  a  united  complaint 
was  made  to  the  Pasha  by  the  indignant  villagers.  The 
Pasha,  for  the  sake  of  appearances,  immediately  appointed 
a  new  Governor.  He  tried  and  imprisoned  the  ofi'ender 
for  a  few  days;  but  soon  made  arrangements  with  him  and 
set  him  free,  after  having  accepted  as  a  bribe  ^  large 
proportion  of  the  property  which  the  Ex-Governor  had 
so  unjustly  obtained! 

I  have  heard  of  many  similar  transactions,  and  some- 
times the  actors  have  been  well  known  to  me,  so  that  I 
have  had  an  opportunity  of  hearing  both  sides  of  the 
story.  Nearly  all  the  Turks  with  whom  I  came  in  contact 
seemed  to  glory  in  successful  intrigue,  and  were  generally 
shrewd  and  clever.  They  had  little  or  no  sympathy  with 
the  Arabs,  and  apparently  no  true  patriotism.  There  are 
very  few  Turks  in  Palestine,  except  civil  officers  and  their 
emplo7/^s,  military  officers,  and  soldiers.  They  are  looked 
upon  always  as  foreigners. 


>' 


180  DOMESTIC  LIFE  IN  PALESTINE. 

Pashas  and  Governors  do  not  remain  long  or  for  any 
fixed  time  in  one  place.  Wherever  they  go  they,  with  few 
exceptions,  "  tread  upon  the  poor,  and  take  from  them 
burdens  of  wheat;  they  afflict  the  just,  and  take  a  bribe." 
They  naturally  favor  the  Moslems;  but  money  is  their 
chief  consideration.  They  not  only  injure  the  people 
whom  they  are  appointed  to  protect,  but  they  rob  the 
Government  which  they  are  employed  to  serve.  If  ap- 
pointments were  given,  with  appropriate  salaries,  to  men 
of  honor  and  energy,  fitted  for  office,  instead  of  being  sold 
to  speculators,  there  would  be  hope  for  Syria.  Crime 
would  be  punished  and  innocence  protected  in  spite  of 
patronage   and  piasters. 

Elias  severely  felt  the  disadvantageous  position  of  his 
countrymen.  They  live  in  a  land  overrun  by  Bedouins, 
where  there  is  no  security  for  property,  and  no  encourage- 
ment for  agriculturists ;  where  there  are  no  roads  and  very 
few  modern  books ;  where  offices  are  purchased,  laws  tam- 
pered with,  justice  disregarded,  and  industry  and  commer- 
cial enterprise  checked.  I  could  not  help  sympathizing  with 
him,  especially  as  I  by  degrees  became  better  acquainted 
with  the  capabilities  of  the  Arab  mind,  and  the  wonderful 
fertility  of  the  country.  Under  more  favorable  circum- 
stances and  better  cultivation  each  would  flourish.  Elias 
admitted  that  oppression  had  demoralized  the  people  to  a 
lamentable  extent.  Their  powers  and  talents  were  misap- 
plied, their  ingenuity  and  inventive  faculties  were  displayed 
in  artful  cunning  and  clever  intrigue.  Their  powers  of 
endurance  and  self-sacrifice  had  grown  into  seeming  apathy 
and  indifi*erence,  their  love  of  poetry  and  of  the  marvelous 
had  been  trifled  with  by  teachers  of  strange  doctrines  and 
conflicting  traditions,  and  their  imaginations  were  incum- 
bered with  wild  superstitions. 

When  Elias  spoke  thus  despondingly,  no  such  man  as 
Fuad  Pasha  had  been  in  Syria  to  inspire  the  hope  of  a 
better  state  of  things.  Elias  was  always  ready  to  answer 
patiently  and  carefully  my  many  questions.     During  nearly 


THE  WIDOW  AND  HER  CHILDREN.       181 

three  years  I  was  in  the  habit  of  seeing  him  frequently.  In 
August,  1858,  he  went  to  Beirut  on  business.  He  was  not 
well  when  he  left  home,  and  on  Wednesday,  the  1st  of  Sep- 
tember, news  was  brought  to  Haifa  that  he  was  dead,  and 
had  been  buried  at  Beirut.  This  was  a  new  and  terrible 
affliction  for  the  Sekhali  family,  for  Elias  was  looked  up 
to  as  the  ruler  and  manager  of  the  house.  Khalil,  the 
aged  father,  felt  the  loss  acutely,  and  the  widow  was  quite 
prostrated.  Grief  bewildered  and  almost  stupefied  her — 
she  could  not  even  weep.  "  Call  for  the  mourning  women, 
that  they  may  come;  and  for  such  as  are  skillful  in  lament- 
ation, that  they  may  come ;  and  let  them  make  haste,  and 
take  up  a  wailing  for  us,  that  our  eyes  may  run  down  with 
tears,  and  our  eyelids  gush  out  with  waters."  And  again 
there  were  seven  days  of  weeping  in  the  house  of  Sekhali. 
See  Jeremiah  ix,  17,  18. 

I  joined  the  mourners  on  the  third  day.  As  soon  as  I 
entered  the  house,  I  heard  the  minstrels  and  the  loud  cries 
of  the  people.  See  Matthew  ix,  23.  I  was  led  into  a  large, 
long  room.  Women  were  sitting  on  the  floor  in  rows  on 
two  sides  of  it.  An  open  space  was  left  down  the  middle  to 
the  end  of  the  room,  where  the  widow  sat  apart,  with  her 
two  youngest  children  lying  at  her  feet.  Her  hair  was 
disheveled,  and  she  wore  no  covering  on  her  head.  Her 
eyelids  were  swollen  with  weeping,  and  her  face  pale  with 
watching.  She  looked  as  if  she  had  suddenly  grown  old. 
Her  dress  was  rent  and  disordered.  She  had  not  rested  or 
changed  her  garments  since  she  heard  the  tidings  of  her 
husband's  death.  She  kissed  me  passionately,  and  said, 
"Weep  for  me,  he  is  dead;"  and  then,  pointing  to  her 
children,  she  said,  "  Weep  for  them,  they  are  fatherless." 
I  sat  near  to  her.  One  of  her  children,  who  was  about 
three  years  old,  crept  into  my  lap,  and  whispered,  "  My 
father  is  dead."  Then  he  closed  his  eyes,  and  pressed  his 
chubby  little  fingers  tightly  over  them,  saying,  "  My  father 
is  dead  like  this — he  is  in  the  dark." 

The  wailing,  which  had  been  slightly  interrupted  at  my 


182  DOMESTIC  LIFE  IN  PALESTINE. 

entrance,  was  renewed  with  vigor.  The  assembled  women 
were  all  in  their  gayest  dresses — soft  crimson  silk  with 
white  stripes  on  it  prevailing.  There  were  many  women 
from  Nazareth  and  Shefa  'Amer  and  other  villages.  They 
had  uncovered  their  heads  and  unbraided  their  hair.  They 
looked  dreadfully  excited.  Their  eyes  were  red  with  weep- 
ing and  watching.  The  air  of  the  room  was  close  and 
heated,  for  the  widow  and  chief  mourners  had  remained 
there  for  three  days  and  two  nights  without  rest,  receiving 
guests  who  came  to  mourn  with  them.  The  room  was 
always  filled,  for  as  soon  as  one  set  of  people  left  another 
set  caihe  in.  During  my  visit  there  were  seventy-three 
mourners  present,  without  reckoning  the  children  who  glided 
in  and  out. 

Three  rows  of*women  sat  on  the  matted  floor  on  the 
right-hand  side,  facing  three  rows  on  the  left.  They  were 
all  clapping  their  hands  or  striking  their  bosoms  in  time 
with  the  monotonous  melody  which  they  murmured. 

Presently  an  especial  lamentation  was  commenced,  to 
which  I  was  invited  to  respond.  I  was  still  seated  at  the 
end  of  the  room,  near  to  the  widow.  The  women  on  my 
left  hand,  led  by  a  celebrated  professional  mourner,  sang 
these  words  with  vigor  and  energy: 

"We  saw  him,  in  the  midst  of  the  company  of  riders, 
Biding  bravely  on  his  horse,  the  horse  he  loved !" 

Then  the  women  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  room  answered 
in  a  lower  and  more  plaintive  key,  beating  their  breasts 
mournfully : 

•'Alas  I  no  more  shall  we  see  him 
In  the  midst  of  the  company  of  riders, 
Biding  bravely  on  his  horse,  the  horse  he  loved." 

Then  the  first  singers  sang : 

"We  saw  him  in  the  garden,  the  pleasant  garden, 
With  his  companions,  and  his  children,  the  children  he  loved." 

Then  the  second  singers  answered : 

"  Alas  1  no  more  shall  we  see  him 
In  the  garden,  the  pleasant  garden. 
With  his  companions,  and  his  children,  the  children  he  loved." 


THE   SWORD  DANCE.  188 


Chorus  of  all  the  women,  singing  softly : 

•'  His  children  and  his  servants  blessed  hira  ! 
His  home  was  the  shelter  of  happiness  I 
Peace  be  upon  him  I" 

First  singers — loudly  and  with  animation 

"  We  saw  him  giving  food  to  the  hungry, 
And  clothing  to  the  naked." 

Second  singers — softly  and  plaintive  : 

•'  Alas  I  no  more  shall  we  see  him 
Give  food  to  the  hungry, 
And  garments  to  the  naked !" 


First  singers : 


'  We  saw  him  give  help  and  succor  to  the  aged 
And  good  counsel  to  the  young." 


Second  singers: 


"  Alas !  no  more  shall  we  see  him 
Give  help  and  succor  to  the  aged, 
And  good  counsel  to  the  young." 

Chorus  of  all  the  women,  singing  softly 

"  He  suffered  not  the  stranger  to  sleep  in  the  streets : 
He  opened  his  door  to  the  wayfarer. 
Peace  be  upon  him  I" 

After  this,  they  started  to  their  feet,  and  shrieked  as 
loudly  as  they  could,  making  a  rattling  noise  in  their 
throats  for  three  or  four  minutes.  The  widow  kneeled, 
swaying  her  body  backward  and  forward,  and  feebly  joined 
in  the  wild  cry. 

Some  of  the  women  reseated  themselves  on  the  floor 
quite  exhausted,  some  retired,  and  a  number  of  guests  from 
'Akka  came  in  and  took  the  vacant  places.  A  minstrel 
woman  began  slowly  beating  a  tambourine,  and  all  the 
company  clapped  their  hands  in  measure  with  it,  singing, 
"  Alas  for  him  !  alas  for  him !  He  was  brave,  he  was  good, 
alas  for  him !"  Then  three  women  rose,  with  naked  swords 
in  their  hands,  and  stood  at  two  or  three  yards'  distance 
from  each  other.  They  began  dancing  with  slow  and 
graceful  movements,  with  their  swords  at  first  held  low  and 
their  heads  drooping.     Each  dancer  kept  within  a  circle  of 


184  DOMESTIC  LIFE  IN  PALESTINE. 

about  a  yard  in  diameter.  By  degrees  the  tambourine  and 
tbe  clapping  of  the  hands  and  the  songs  grew  louder,  the 
steps  of  the  dancers  were  quickened.  They  threw  back 
their  heads,  and  gazed  upward  passionately,  as  if  they 
would  look  into  the  very  heavens.  They  flourished  their 
uplifted  swords,  and  as  their  movements  became  more  wild 
and  excited,  the  bright  steel  flashed  and  bright  eyes  seemed 
to  grow  brighter.  As  one  by  one  the  dancers  sank  over- 
come with  fatigue,  others  rose  to  replace  them.  Thus 
passed  seven  days  and  nights.  Professional  mourners  were 
in  constant  attendance  to  keep  up  the  excitement,  and 
dances  and  dirges  succeeded  each  other,  with  intervals  of 
wild  and  hysterical  weeping  and  shrieking.  I  remained 
about  two  hours  in  the  room,  and  occasionally  I  watched 
from  a  window  which  overlooked  it.  I  could  see  that  the 
leader  had  a  powerful  influence  over  all  present.  A  cer- 
tain tone  of  her  wild  wailing  voice  drew  tears  from  the 
eyes  and  produced  hysterical  emotion  in  some  cases. 

There  are  girls  who  have  a  morbid  taste  for  the  excite- 
ment thus  produced,  and  are  celebrated  for  the  facility 
with  which  they  fall  into  fits  of  uncontrollable  weeping. 
The  real  mourners  and  the  amateur  actresses  in  these  scenes 
are  usually  ill  afterward,  but  the  professional  assistants  do 
not  appear  to  sufiier  from  the  fatigue  or  excitement,  and 
they  do  not  lose  their  self-control  for  a  moment. 

Poor  Khalil  Sekhali  never  quite  recovered  the  shock 
caused  by  this  death.  It  became  an  epoch  from  which  to 
reckon  events  throughout  the  district,  where  Elias  had  been 
BO  well  known  and  so  much  respected.  It  was  usual  to 
say,  "  Such  an  event  occurred  before  or  after  the  death  of 
Elias."  And  there  was  a  saying  current  in  Haifa  to  the 
effect  that  "the  men  of  the  Sekhali  family  die  always 
among  strangers  and  away  from  home.'!  But  I  suppose 
that  the  spell  is  broken  now,  for  Khalil,  the  old  man,  died 
in  his  own  house,  in  January,  1860.  I  was  not  in  Haifa 
at  the  time,  but  I  was  informed  that  Khalil  had  been 
staying  at  'Akka  and  was  very  ill  there.     On  his  way  back 


FUNERAL   ORATIONS.  185 

to  Haifa,  in  a  very  weak  state,  while  riding  along  the 
sands,  he  was  thrown  from  his  horse,  and  so  much  injured 
that  he  was  carried  home,  and  died  in  three  days.  My 
brother  went  to  the  funeral,  and  in  a  letter  to  me  he  spoke 
of  it  thus : 

"  I  never  in  this  neighborhood  saw  a  funeral  so  numer- 
ously attended.  The  church,  as  well  as  the  court  without, 
was  completely  crowded.  Seven  priests — four  of  whom  had 
come  from  a  considerable  distance  for  the  purpose — chanted 
the  appointed  psalms,  and  the  burial  service  was  performed 
as  usual.  After  the  Epistle,  Gospel,  and  Absolution  had 
been  read,  the  chief  priest  said  to  the  congregation,  *  Dear 
brethren  and  children,  Khalil  Sekhali  was  a  man  who  lived 
very  long  in  this  world.  He  has  had  a  great  deal  of  busi- 
ness, and  has  been  in  communication  with  a  great  number 
of  people.  It  is  possible  that  in  certain  transactions  he 
may  have  given  cause  for  offense.  Some  people  may  have 
felt  themselves  insulted,  some  may  have  been  grieved  or 
offended,  either  with  or  without  reason.  This  now  is  the 
time  for  pardon,  and  I  hereby  beseech  you  all  present,  and 
by  the  blessing  of  God  I  implore  you  all,  to  pardon  him 
fully,  to  forgive  him  all  offenses  as  you  hope  to  be  forgiven.' 
The  whole  congregation  then  answered,  *May  God  pardon 
him !' " 

This  ceremony  of  asking  pardon  of  the  living  for  the 
dead  is  observed  in  a  slight  degree  at  all  burials  among  the 
Greeks,  but  it  is  not  generally  so  emphatically  expressed  or 
so  enlarged  upon  as  in  the  case  of  Khalil.  He  was  a  man 
of  great  influence.  He  was  the  founder  of  the  Greek 
Church  in  Haifa;  and  the  only  good  houses  in  the  town 
belonged  to  him  or  to  members  of  his  family. 
16 


186  DOMESTIC  LIFE  IN  PALESTINE. 


CHAPTER   VIII. 

LIFE  IN  HAIFA. 

The  history  of  the  Sekhali  family  has  led  me  away  from 
my  own.  I  will  return  to  the  time  when  we  hastened  into 
our  new  house  on  account  of  the  commencement  of  the 
Winter  rains — Christmas,  1855. 

On  the  30th  of  December,  after  three  days  and  nights  of 
almost  incessant  rain,  a  bright,  sunshiny  afternoon  tempted 
us  out.  We  passed  through  the  west  gate,  and  the  sudden 
change  which  had  taken  place  in  the  appearance  of  the 
country  surprised  me  exceedingly.  The  ground,  which  had 
lately  looked  so  brown  and  parched,  cracked  into  fissures 
by  the  Summer  heat,  was  now  carpeted  with  vividly-green 
grass  and  tiny  leaves.  Many  large  slabs  of  rock  which 
had  before  been  concealed  by  earth  were  now  laid  bare. 
The  tombs  in  the  Greek  and  Latin  cemeteries,  the  broad 
stone  thrashing-floors  on  the  sloping  plain,  the  masses  of 
rock  around  and  on  the  terraced  hill-sides,  washed  by  the 
recent  torrents,  looked  brightly  white. 

We  climbed  the  castle  hill  just  behind  Haifa.  White, 
yellow,  and  purple  crocuses  were  growing  round  the  roots 
of  the  trees,  under  the  shelter  of  rocks,  and  in  the  midst 
of  leafless  thorn-bushes  ;*  while  the  glossy-green  leaves 
of  flags,  arums,  squills,  and  cyclamen  were  unfolding  and 
shooting  up  every-where. 

We  looked  down  on  to  the  town.  Thousands  of  birds, 
chiefly  sparrows,  were  on  the  house-tops.  The  flat  roofs 
are  composed  of  massive  beams  of  wood,  crossed  by  planks, 
poles,  and  brushwood,  overspread  with  earth  and  small 
stones,   rolled   firm   and   smooth.     In   preparation   for   the 

*  "The  lily  among  thorns."    Song  of  Solomon  ii,  2. 


SPARROWS   ON  THE   HOUSE-TOP.  187 

Winter  rains,  the  roofs  had  all  been  newly  covered  with 
mortar  made  of  earth — brought  from  the  common  or  un- 
in closed  land  of  the  hills — well  mixed  with  straw.  The 
newly-disturbed  earth,  rich  in  bulbs,  and  grass,  and  wild- 
flower  seeds,  had  naturally  attracted  the  birds,  and  as  I 
watched  them  pecking  and  twittering  there,  I  felt  the  sig- 
nificancy  of  the  expression  in  the  Psalms,  which  refers  to 
the  "sparrow  on  the  house-top." 

On  the  30th  of  January,  soon  after  sunrise,  several  little 
boys  came  with  large  bunches  of  the  "narojus;"  that  is, 
the  yellow  narcissus,  a  favorite  flower  of  the  Arabs.  The 
boys  asked  for  "backshish,"  and  said,  "We  have  brought 
these  flowers  because  they  are  called  by  the  name  of  the 
Consul."  Then  I  understood  why  many  Arabs,  especially 
children,  called  us  "Narojus,"  instead  of  Rogers.  In  the 
afternoon  I  went  on  to  the  hills,  where  narcissus  and  wild 
hyacinths  were  growing  in  profusion.  Goats  were  leaping 
and  skipping  from  rock  to  rock,  and  enjoying  the  plentiful 
pasture.  I  looked  down  on  the  town.  Its  appearance  was 
perfectly  changed.  Out  of  the  lately-made  roofs  of  earth 
fresh  green  grass  had  sprung,  so  that  every  house-top 
looked  like  a  grass-plat;  and  on  some  of  them  lambs 
and  kids  were  feeding. 

But  these  grass-grown  roofs  are  rarely  sound  enough  to 
keep  out  the  rain.  We  often  heard  our  neighbors  com- 
plaining of  water  pouring  in  torrents  into  their  rooms, 
and  I  have  sometimes  been  roused  in  the  night  by  an 
unexpected  sprinkling.  Patches  of  fresh  earth  are  added 
from  time  to  time,  and  the  roofs  are  rolled  occasionally 
with  a  heavy  stone,  like  a  common  garden-roller.  One 
is  usually  kept  on  the  top  of  each  house,  or  block  of 
houses. 

When  I  went  out,  on  the  11th  of  February,  I  saw 
laborers  busy  in  the  plain,  at  the  foot  of  the  Carmel  Hills. 
Large  patches  of  land  were  being  plowed.  The  rich  brown 
earth  was  thrown  up  by  clumsy-looking  plowshares,  dragged 
by  oxen.      Boys  were  employed  in  gathering   out   stones 


188  DOMESTIC  LIFE   IN    PALESTINE. 

from  tracts  of  land,  round  which  men  were  building  low 
rough  stone  walls.  New  hedges  of  prickly  pears  were 
being  planted  round  gardens  and  orchards,  thus:  a  stone 
wall  about  a  quarter  of  a  yard  high  is  made,  and  then 
quite  covered  with  earth.  Along  the  top  of  the  bank  thus 
formed  portions  of  the  cactus  stems  are  planted,  about  a 
foot  apart.  These  stems  are  green  and  broad,  and  so  flat 
and  jointed  that  they  look  like  large  rounded  leaves  joined 
together.  In  some  places  the  rain  had  washed  away  the 
earth,  and  I  could  see  the  roots  shooting  out  from  the 
edges  of  the  stems.  The  growth  of  the  species  of  the 
cactus  —  Opuntia  —  is  so  rapid  that  a  bank  thus  planted 
becomes,  in  the  course  of  one  season,  a  very  formidable 
hedge.  Its  blossom  is  yellow,  and  it  yields  the  pleasant, 
cooling  fruit  called  "prickly  pear,"  or  "Indian  fig."  The 
Arabs  call  it  ^^  sithher" — that  is,  ^^ patience'^ — on  account 
of  the  care  and  patience  required  in  gathering  and  peeling 
it;  for  it  is  covered  with  spines  and  fine  stinging  hairs, 
and  the  plant  is  armed  every-where  with  large  sharp 
thorns.  In  spite  of  this  the  camel  feeds  on  it  freely. 
Even  in  the  driest  seasons  the  stems  are  juicy,  and,  when 
pierced,  moisture  oozes  out  plentifully.  It  is  the  natural 
home  of  the  cochineal  insect;  but  the  cultivation  of  this 
valuable  article  of  commerce  is  unfortunately  neglected  in 
Palestine. 

The  blossoming  arum,  the  blue  iris,  squills,  and  daffodils 
were  growing  so  abundantly  in  the  burial-ground,  that  the 
sides  of  the  tombs  were  quite  concealed.  On  the  un- 
plowed  land  of  the  plain,  and  on  the  hill-sides,  I  found 
anemones,  ranunculuses,  marigolds,  ground-ivy,  cyclamen, 
and  many  other  wild  flowers. 

The  thorn-bushes,  which  during  the  Summer  and  Autumn 
had  been  so  dark  and  bare,  were  clothed  with  delicate  green 
sprays  of  finely-serrated  leaves,  which  almost  hid  the  sharp, 
cruel-looking  thorns.  They  were  sprinkled  with  little  round 
buds — when  they  opened,  they  threw  out  silky  tufts  of 
crimson,  crowned  with   golden -colored  powder.     The  seed 


GRASS-GROWN  ROOFS.  189 

vessel  is  round,  and  divided  into  four  quarters.  At  first  it 
is  almost  white,  but  gradually  becomes  pink.  At  the  apex 
there  is  a  little  green  tuft,  in  the  shape  of  a  Greek  cross. 
When  the  seed  is  quite  ripe,  it  is  about  half  an  inch  in 
diameter,  and  of  a  deep,  shining,  red  color. 

I  have  been  told  that  it  was  of  this  thorn  that  the  wreath 
was  made,  ^^hich  once  crowned  the  head  of  Christ.  It  may 
be  so.  I  have  never  seen  a  plant  of  which  so  beautiful, 
and  at  the  same  time  so  cruel,  a  crown  could  be  composed. 
This  thorn  is  the  Poterium  spinosiim.  About  Easter,  it  is 
seen  in  all  its  beauty,  the  leaves  glossy  and  full-grown,  the 
fruit  or  seed-vessels  brilliantly  red,  like  drops  of  blood,  and 
the  thorns  sharper  and  stronger  than  at  any  other  time. 
No  plant  or  bush  is  so  common  on  the  hills  of  Judea, 
Galilee,  and  Carmel  as  this.  It  is  used  extensively  for 
fuel,  especially  for  the  bakers'  ovens,  and  "  the  crackling 
of  thorns  under  a  pot "  may  often  be  heard  in  Palestine. 

The  gardens  and  orchards  looked  very  beautiful.  Al- 
mond-trees were  full  of  blossom.  Lemon  and  shaddock 
trees  were  laden  with  fruit.  The  "Winter  rains  were  over; 
"flowers  appeared  on  the  earth,  the  time  of  the  singing  of 
birds  had  come,  and  the  voice  of  the  turtle  was  heard  in 
the  land."  And  again  the  appearance  of  the  town  of  Haifa 
was  perfectly  changed.  The  last  few  days  of  warmth  and 
uninterrupted  sunshine  had  quite  withered  and  burned  up 
all  "the  grass  on  the  house-tops,"  so  that  there  was  not  a 
green  spot  left.  Boys  and  girls  were  gathering  the  short 
yellow  hay ;  but  there  was  very  little  of  it,  for  the  grass 
had  not  had  time  to  grow  up  fully,  or  put  forth  its  seed; 
and  the  harvest  on  the  house-tops  was  mere  child's  play, 
"  wherewith  the  mower  filleth  not  his  hand,  nor  he  that 
bindeth  sheaves  his  bosom.''     Psalm  cxxix,  6-8. 

On  the  19th  of  February,  early  in  the  morning,  a  young 
Bedouin  brought  me  a  large  wooden  bowl  full  of  clotted 
cream,  and  announced  the  coming  of  four  men  of  his  tribe. 
While  he  spoke,  they  entered.  They  were  rejoicing,  on 
accouut  of  the  abundance  of  milk  which  their  flocks  yielded 


190  DOMESTIC   LIFE  IN   PALESTINE. 

now  that  they  were  at  pasture  on  the  Carmel  range.  They 
were  very  dark,  and  wore  long,  white,  cotton  shirts  with 
wide  sleeves,  and  loose,  heavy,  camel's-hair  cloaks.  They 
seemed  to  be  rather  taken  by  surprise  by  the  looking-glass, 
in  which  they  could  see  themselves  at  full  length.  The 
one  who  seemed  to  be  the  chief  of  the  party  invited  me  to 
visit  him,  with  the  Consul,  at  his  tents,  at  an  hour's  dis- 
tance from  Haifa.  In  answer  to  my  questions,  he  told  me 
that  there  were  several  women  at  the  encampment,  and 
that  they  were  busy  making  stores  of  cooking  butter.  The 
cream  is  shaken  in  goats'  skins,  and  afterward  boiled. 
When  the  milk  and  whey  are  completely  extracted,  the 
butter  will  keep  good  for  a  very  long  time.  At  this  season 
the  markets  are  always  well  supplied  by  the  peasantry  and 
the  Bedouins  together,  and  during  the  Spring  housekeepers 
refill  their  butter-jars  with  a  store  for  the  Summer  and 
Autumn.  One  of  these  Bedouins  carried  a  lance,  about 
twelve  feet  long.  At  the  top  of  it  there  were  two  round 
tufts  of  black  ostrich  feathers,  about  one  foot  apart.  The 
upper  tuft  was  fringed  with  little  white  feathers.  Between 
the  tufts,  strips  of  scarlet  cloth  were  twisted.  The  lance 
was  so  heavy  that  I  could  not  lift  it.  It  was  of  wood,  with 
a  metal  barb.  All  the  men  wore  large  red  and  yellow  silk 
striped  kefias — that  is,  fringed  shawls — on  their  heads,  fast- 
ened round  the  crown  with  a  thick  rope,  and  put  on  like 
hoods.  They  all  had  high,  pointed,  red-leather  boots,  which, 
however,  they  took  ofif  at  the  door.  One  man  displayed  a 
heavy  silver  ring  on  his  finger.  A  name  was  roughly  en- 
graved on  it.  The  wearer  said,  "Salute  the  Consul;  may 
Allah  keep  all  sorrow  far  from  him !"  Then  he  and  his 
followers  went  away. 

I  had  just  dismissed  the  bearer  of  the  bowl  of.  cream 
with  a  backshish,  when  two  little  girls  of  the  Sekhali 
family  came  to  me,  saying,  "  0  Miriam,  peace  be  upon 
you !  We  have  thought  you  must  be  sad  and  lonely,  now 
that  the  Consul  is  away  from  HS,ifa.  May  he  return  to 
you   soon,   and   in   safety !"     I   invited   my  friendly   little 


BIDE   TO   SHEFA   'AMER.  191 

neighbors  .  to  take  off  their  izzars — the  white  sheets  in 
which  they  were  enveloped — and  to  remain  with  me  to 
breakfast.  They  wore  dark  cotton  trowsers,  made  very  full 
and  long,  and  cloth  jackets,  closely  fitting  and  fastened  up 
to  the  throat.  Their  mundils,  or  bright-colored  muslin 
kerchiefs,  were  put  on  like  shawls  over  the  head,  crossed 
under  the  chin,  and  the  ends  tied  on  the  top  of  the  head. 
Their  hair  was  braided,  and  hung  in  long  plaits  over  their 
shoulders.  Their  finger-nails  and  toe-nails  were  rosy  with 
henna-dye.  They  left  their  yellow  shoes  at  the  entrance 
of  the  room.  They  were  very  much  interested  in  turning 
out  the  contents  of  my  work-box,  and  in  looking  through 
books  of  pictures,  about  which  they  asked  many  questions, 
and  made  curious  comments,  not  only  teaching  me,  uncon- 
sciously, Arabic  words,  but  showing  me  the  spirit  of  Ori- 
ental ideas.  They  were  amused  to  hear  about  English 
children,  and  laughed  heartily  when  I  told  them  that  in 
England  a  few  camels  are  kept  as  curiosities,  in  a  beautiful 
garden.  They  could  not  understand  how  we  could  live  in 
a  land  where  there  are  no  camels  to  carry  burdens.  I  tried 
to  explain  to  them  the  use  of  carts  and  railed  roads ;  but, 
as  they  had  never  seen  a  wheeled  carriage  of  any  kind,  it 
was  very  difficult  to  convey  the  idea,  even  with  the  help  of 
pictures.  They  were  very  clever,  quick  children ;  and, 
though  only  eight  and  nine  years  old,  they  could  already 
make  bread,  and  prepare  many  simple  dishes.  They  were 
surprised  that  I  had  not  been  taught  how  to  cook.  It  is 
the  chief  point  in  the  education  of  an  Arab  girl. 

While  I  was  occupied  with  my  amusing  little  guests,  our 
Egyptian  groom  Mohammed  arrived,  leading  a  beautiful 
white  mare,  and  bringing  a  letter  from  my  brother,  inviting 
me  to  go  immediately  to  Shefa  'Amer — about  three  hours' 
distance — to  meet  him  there,  and  to  return  with  him  to 
Haifa  the  next  day.  The  children  said,  "  "We  are  glad  you 
will  to-day  see  the  Consul ;  but  we  are  sorry  you  are  going 
away  from  us;  go  in  peace."  I  was  soon  ready,  and 
mounted  on  the  white  mare.     Her  lon^;  mane  and  tail  were 


192  DOMESTIC    LIFE   IN  PALESTINE. 

deeply  dyed  with  henna — bright  orange  color.  It  is  said  to 
be  a  preventive  of  disease.  A  large  glass  bead  of  sapphire 
blue  hung  from  the  neck  of  the  animal.  I  asked  the  groom 
what  it  was  for.  He  said,  "  It  will  avert  the  effect  of  a 
glance  from  an  evil  eye.  This  mare  is  so  beautiful  that  she 
is  in  danger  of  being  looked  at  with  admiration  and  envy 
by  those  who  have  power  to  destroy  her  and  her  rider  even 
by  a  look."  He  said  he  durst  not  suffer  me  to  ride  such  an 
animal  without  this  precaution.  Many  of  my  friends,  Mos- 
lems and  Christians,  walked  by  my  side  as  far  as  the  gate, 
and  "  Go  in  peace,  and  return  to  us  in  safety,"  rang  in  my 
ears  as  I  rode  along  the  sands,  attended  only  by  our  trust- 
worthy groom  Mohammed,  and  under  the  protection  of  the 
sapphire  bead.  I  asked  him  if  my  want  of  confidence  in 
the  charm  would  destroy  its  efficacy.  He  answered  sol- 
emnly, "  Its  power  can  not  be  destroyed,  praised  he  Allah  T 
It  was  noon.  The  sun  shone,  but  not  too  fiercely.  The 
wind  blew,  but  not  too  roughly ;  and  the  waves  rippled 
round  the  feet  of  the  mare,  and  of  Mohammed's  sturdy 
little  donkey.  We  crossed  the  Kishon  cautiously  and 
safely  on  the  bar  far  out  at  sea.  The  river  was  rather 
deep  and  dangerous  that  day. 

We  turned  away  from  the  shore  and  traversed  the  drifted 
sand-hills,  where  tall  trees  and  shrubs  were  half  buried; 
but  grass  was  springing  up  plentifully  where  the  land  was 
firmer,  and  the  rain  rested  here  and  there  in  quiet  pools, 
bordered  by  the  iris,  blue  and  yellow,  rank  grass  and  blos- 
soming reeds.  Advancing  a  little  further  into  the  plain, 
we  came  to  a  perfect  paradise  of  flowers.  The  ground  for 
a  mile  or  more  in  every  direction  was  completely  carpeted 
with  anemones — scarlet,  crimson,  white,  blue,  purple,  pink, 
and  lilac — with  patches  of  clover  and  mallows  here  and 
there,  and  buttercups  and  cyclamen.  I  had  never  seen  such 
wealth  of  wild  flowers,  or  such  vivid  coloring,  and  there 
seemed  to  be  no  one  to  enjoy  it.  We  were  quite  out  of 
sight  of  human  beings  and  human  habitations.  The  only 
building  to  be   seen  was  the   dome  over  the  fountain   of 


THE   ONE-EYED   REGIMENT.  193 

Jethro,  a  retreat  for  ablution  and  for  prayer,  with  a  few 
troughs  round  it  for  watering  cattle.  It  is  just  half-way 
between  Haifa  and  Shefa  'Amer.  I  paused  for  a  moment 
to  enjoy  the  scene  and  the  silence.  My  mare  began  crop- 
ping the  thickly-growing  mallows.  Mohammed  exclaimed, 
"  Ya  Sittee,  cows  thrive  on  mallows,  but  to  running  horses 
they  bring  death."  As  we  rode  on  again,  I  asked  Moham- 
med if  his  parents  still  lived  in  Egypt.  He  replied,  "  God 
knows !  It  is  more  than  twenty  years  since  I  left  my 
mother.  She  was  a  widow,  peace  be  upon  her !  and  I  have 
never  heard  of  her  since.  It  is  too  late  now.  No  letter 
would  reach  her,  for  she  is  poor  and  unknown  in  the  land. 
When  the  poor  leave  their  parents,  they  leave  them  for- 
ever. That  is  the  reason  why  mothers  weep  and  refuse  to 
be  comforted  when  their  sons  go  away  from  their  homes. 
Letters  can  be  carried  for  the  rich,  and  for  people  who  are 
known."  He  was  surprised  to  hear  that  in  England  all 
houses  are  named  or  numbered,  and  that  letters  directed  to 
the  poorest  people  in  the  country  are  taken  as  much  care 
of  as  those  addressed  to  the  most  wealthy. 

Mohammed  had  lost  the  use  of  one  eye.  In  answer  to 
my  inquiry,  he  told  me  that  his  mother  had  purposely 
destroyed  the  sight,  by  the  application  of  poisonous  leaves 
when  he  was  young,  to  render  him  unfit  for  service  in  the 
army,  for  he  was  her  only  son.  This  practice  was  very 
common  in  Egypt  till  Ibrahim  Pasha  put  an  effectual  stop 
to  it  by  ordering  a  regiment  to  be  formed  entirely  of  one- 
eyed  men,  and  every  one  who  had  lost  the  sight  of  an  eye, 
either  by  accident  or  design,  was  compelled  to  join  it. 
Mohammed,  among  others,  was  enrolled,  and  this  Cyclopean 
regiment  became  the  most  formidable  in  Egyptian  service. ^^ 
We   passed   between  large   fields  where  wheat  and   barley 

*  I  could  not  understand  what  sort  of  leaves  Mohammed  referred  to,  but  they 
were  gathered  from  a  shrub  which  grows  in  gardens  on  the  banks  of  the  Nile.  Ou 
homeopathic  principles  I  suppose  that  this  eye-destroying  leaf  should  also  have 
the  power  of  renovating  injured  sight.  Several  Arabs — Christians — confessed  to 
me,  that  when  they  were  school-boys,  they  resorted  to  all  sorts  of  schemes  in  order 
to  avoid  attending  school.  They  used  sometimes  to  rub  their  eyelids  with  freshly- 
gathered  fig-leaves,  and  the  milky  iuice  which  exudes  from  them  soon  causes  the 

17 


194  DOMESTIC    LIFE   IN   PALESTINE. 

"were  springing  up  vigorously,  and  over  fallow  ground  gar- 
nished with  blossoming  weeds.  Now  and  then  we  overtook 
a  land  tortoise,  leisurely  making  its  way  across  the  coun- 
try. They  are  very  common  in  the  plains  of  Palestine. 
Mohammed  told  me  that  Christians  of  the  East  eat  them, 
especially  in  Lent,  and  the  peasants  catch  and  carry  them 
to  market-towns  in  great  numbers.  I  afterward  heard  this 
confirmed,  but  I  never  saw  the  dish  any  where. 

When  we  reached  the  hill  country  I  could  scarcely 
recognize  the  valleys  and  the  hill-sides,  which  I  had  trav- 
ersed in  October,  and  again  in  November.  Every  thing 
■was  changed  and  beautified  by  Spring.  There  was  no  bare 
earth  to  be  seen,  it  was  all  concealed  by  vividly-green  veg- 
etation. The  periwinkle  was  conspicuous,  and  in  the  hol- 
lows of  the  white  rocks  and  between  the  stones  tiny  flowers 
"were  flourishing.  The  evergreen  oaks  were  garlanded  with 
"wild  clematis,  and  a  creeper  with  lilac  bell-like  blossoms 
traveled  from  tree  to  tree  in  graceful  festoons.  The  "  pas- 
tures on  the  hills  were  clothed  with  flocks,  and  the  valleys 
were  covered  with  corn."  Here  we  saw  some  human  beings, 
the  first  we  had  met  on  our  way.  There  was  a  very  old 
man,  with  a  long  staff"  in  his  hand,  sitting  under  a  tree. 
He  rose  up  when  he  saw  us  coming.  He  wore  over  his 
long  shirt  a  short  pelisse  made  of  sheep-skin,  and  an  old 
shawl  head-dress.  Some  youths  came  forward  as  we  ap- 
proached. They  were  bronzed  and  weather-beaten.  They 
had  nothing  on  but  long  coarse  cotton  shirts,  girdled  with 
leather  belts.  Long  clumsy -looking  guns  were  slung  over 
their  shoulders.  Their  heads  were  hooded  in  old  red  and 
yellow  shawls.  The  herds  and  flocks  upon  the  hills  were 
in  their  care.  The  old  man  raised  his  hand  to  his  forehead 
as  we  went  by,  and  said,  "God   direct  you."     One  of  the 

eyelids  to  swell  so  much,  that  they  can  scarcely  be  opened  for  two  or  three  days, 
but  no  perceptible  injury  is  done  to  the  eye.  When  fig-leaves  are  not  to  be  found, 
they  used  stinging  nettles  instead  1  The  boys  said  that  they  cheerfully  suffered 
this  self-inflicted  pain  for  a  few  days,  for  the  sake  of  the  holiday  which  necessarily 
accompanied  it,  and  the  temporary  escape  from  the  monotonous  duties  of  school, 
and  the  thick  stick  of  the  schoolmaster.  However,  where  Arab  boys  are  kindly 
and  intelligently  taught,  they  learn  eagerly  and  make  wonderfully  rapid  progress. 


BEDOUIN    DEPREDATIONS.  195 

young  shepherds  was  sitting  on  a  rock  playing  on  a  short 
flute,  made  of  a  reed.  He  placed  the  end  of  it  in  his 
mouth,  and  produced  soft  but  clear  musical  sounds.  I 
could  detect  only*  five  notes..  Mohammed  pointed  out  a 
black  tent,  made  of  camel's-hair  cloth  and  branches,  pitched 
under  a  large  terrebinth-tree.  It  was  no  doubt  the  portable 
home  of  the  herdsmen.  Here  we  were  met  by  an  African 
horseman,  as  black  as  ebony.  He  was  dressed  entirely  in 
white  and  crimson,  and  was  riding  at  full  gallop.  He 
paused  to  greet  us,  and  said  to  Mohammed,  "The  English 
Consul  is  near  at  hand.  He  is  coming  forth  to  meet  his 
sister,  but  my  eyes  have  seen  her  first.  I  will  hasten  to 
give  him  joy,  and  tell  him  that  she  is  well  and  on  her  way." 
Mohammed  answered,  "Gro  in  peace.  Blessed  is  the  bearer 
of  good  tidings."  We  were  soon  in  the  olive-groves  of 
Shefa  'Amer,  and  there  to  my  delight  I  met  my  brother. 
Saleh,  Habib,  and  Stephani  joined  us.  They  handed  blos- 
soming almond  branches  to  me,  in  token  of  welcome.  We 
rode  up  the  steep  hill  on  which  the  town  stands,  and 
alighted  at  the  house  of  Habib.  He  led  me  into  his  guest- 
chamber,  a  large,  eight-windowed,  square  room.  On  two 
Bides  of  it  mattresses  were  placed  on  the  floor,  covered  with 
Turkey-carpets,  and  cushions  cased  in  silk  and  satin  were 
leaning  against  the  walls.  On  one  side  a  handsome  carpet 
was  spread,  with  a  small  silk-covered  square  mattress,  and 
pillows  arranged  for  one  person  only.  This  he  said  was 
intended  for  me.  Egyptian  matting  covered  the  rest  of  the 
floor,  and  in  one  corner  was  a  raised  bed-stand,  with  muslin 
musketo-curtains.  We  went  out  on  to  the  broad  terrace, 
which  overlooks  the  sea  and  the  plain,  and  rested  there, 
exchanging  news. 

I  reported  the  visit  of  the  Bedouins.  My  brother  ex- 
plained to  me  how  the  townspeople,  the  villagers,  and  the 
peasantry  dread  the  approach  of  these  wanderers  with  their 
flocks  and  herds,  for,  he  said,  "  They  not  only  spoil  the 
pasture-land,  but  the  crops  are  endangered.  There  will  be 
no  real  safety  for  cultivators  and  agriculturists  in  Palestine 


196  DOMESTIC   LIFE  IN   PALESTINE. 

till  these  incursions  are  put  a  stop  to.  The  Bedouins  come 
from  beyond  Jordan,  every  year,  just  after  the  Winter  rains 
are  over,  when  the  grain  is  springing  up,  so  that  people  do 
not  venture  to  cultivate  more  land  than  they  hope  to  be 
able  to  protect.  That  is  one  reason  why  there  are  so  many 
waste  places  in  the  country,  and  why  some  portions  of  the 
most  fertile  plains  are  abandoned  by  the  peasants  of  Pal- 
estine, and  only  cultivated  by  wandering  tribes,  who  pitch 
their  tents  in  a  favorable  spot,  plow,  sow,  and  reap,  and 
then  perhaps  recross  the  Jordan,  and  return  no  more  till 
thp  following  Spring,"  According  to  the  third  and  sixth 
verses  of  the  sixth  chapter  of  Judges,  these  wanderers  used 
to  commit  just  such  depredations  in  Palestine  three  thou- 
sand years  ago,  and  at  the  very  same  season.  "  When  Is- 
rael had  sown,  then  the  Amalekites,  the  Midianites,  and 
the  children  of  the  East  (that  is,  from  beyond  Jordan) 
came  up  against  them;  they  destroyed  the  increase  of  the 
earth  and  left  no  sustenance  for  Israel ;  they  came  with 
their  cattle  and  their  tents,  and  they  and  their  camels  were 
without  number,  and  Israel  was  greatly  impoverished." 
This  is  one  of  the  chief  causes  of  the  present  poverty  of 
the  country. 

When  the  sun  went  down  we  entered  the  guest-chamber. 
Large  lanterns  were  lighted  and  placed  on  two  small  stools 
in  the  middle  of  the  room.  The  Governor,  Abu  Daoud, 
and  his  little  son,  arrived  to  greet  me.  Soon  afterward 
Salihh  Agha  came,  in  his  large  scarlet  cloak,  edged  with 
gold-lace  and  embroidery.  His  dark  face  was  deeply 
shaded  by  his  lilac  and  silver  shawl,  worn  like  a  hood, 
bound  round  his  head  by  a  thick  white  cord  of  camel's- 
hair.  His  eyelids  were  kohl-tinged,  and  he  looked  rather 
fierce,  on  the  whole.  He  and  his  brother,  the  celebrated 
Akiel  Agha,  are  the  most  powerful  and  formidable  people 
in  the  Pashalic  of  'Akka.  They  came  originally  from 
Morocco,  and  are  now  in  the  service  of  the  Turkish 
Government.  They  have  three  or  four  hundred  armed 
horsemen  under  their  command.     They  may  be  regarded 


SUPPER  WITH  SALIHH  AGHA.         197 

as  the  mounted  patrols  of  tlie  hills  and  plains  of  Gralilee; 
for  it  is  their  duty  to  keep  the  roads  clear  that  people 
may  travel  in  safety.  To  a  considerable  extent  they  suc- 
ceed; and,  thanks  to  their  energy,  highway  robbery  and 
murders  are  rare;  but  they  can  not  of  course  keep  all 
the  wanderers  out  of  the  country.  Over  some  tribes 
Akiel  Agha  has  great  influence,  but  with  the  Kurds  and 
other  hostile  hordes  he  sometimes  comes  into  collision, 
and  warfare  ensues,  and  then  all  the  tribes  friendly  or  in 
alliance  with  him  naturally  come  to  his  assistance.  Not- 
withstanding these  outbreaks,  it  is  certain  that  without  the 
Agha's  somewhat  irregular  guard  affairs  in  the  Pashalic 
of  'Akka  would  be  very  much  worse,  and  traveling  would 
be  attended  with  more  danger. 

Akiel  Agha's  regiment  is  a  motley  crew,  formed  of  des- 
perate men  from  all  parts  of  the  country,  reminding  one 
of  the  four  hundred  over  whom  David  made  himself  a 
captain — 1  Samuel  xxii,  2.  They  are  distinguished  by 
the  name  of  "Hawara,"  and  are,  in  fact,  a  tolerated  tribe 
of  marauders,  empowered  by  the  Government  to  keep  other 
tribes  in  check. 

Salihh  Agha  told  me  that  he  had  served  on  the  Danube 
for  a  short  time  during  the  previous  year,  but  he  did  not 
like  to  be  so  far  away  from  his  children.  His  tents  were 
now  pitched  at  Abilene,  about  three  miles  from  Shefa 
'Amer.  He  sent  his  lieutenant  to  fetch  his  youngest  son 
for  me  to  see,  though  it  was  a  dark  night  and  long  past 
sunset.  Supper  was  announced,  and  we  were  conducted  to 
another  room.  Water  was  poured  over  our  hands  as  we 
entered;  then  we,  seven  in  number,  sat  on  the  matted  floor, 
round  a  circular  tray,  raised  about  six  inches  from  the 
ground,  and  literally  crowded  with  food.  A  very  long, 
narrow  towel  was  placed  in  front  of  the  guests,  and  reached 
all  round,  resting  on  our  knees,  and  its  fringed  ends  met 
and  crossed  where  I  was  invited  to  take  my  seat.  There 
were  six  round  dishes  of  heaped-up  rice,  boiled  in  butter; 
six  dishes  of  boiled  wheat,  mixed  with  minced  meat  and 


198  DOMESTIC  LIFE  IN  PALESTINE. 

spices ;  a  few  plates  of  fowls  and  lamb,  and  bowls  of 
lebbeny  or  sour  cream,  and  a  good  supply  of  sweet  cream, 
cbeese,  olives,  and  salad.  A  cake  of  bread  was  placed 
before  each  person.  As  soon  as  Salihli  Agha  was  seated, 
he  began  eating  silently  and — as  it  seemed  to  me — vora- 
ciously, quite  in  Bedouin  style,  making  pellets  of  the  hot 
rice  or  wheat  in  the  palm  of  his  hand,  and  with  a  skillful 
jerk  tossing  them  into  his  mouth.  He  divided  the  fowls 
with  his  fingers,  and  did  me  the  honor  to  pass  the  most 
delicate  morsels  ^to  me.  At  this  rate  the  contents  of  the 
dishes  soon  disappeared;  for  all  the  gentlemen  followed  the 
example  of  Salihh  Agha,  and  as,  one  by  one,  they  were 
satisfied,  they  rose  and  washed  their  hands.  We  then 
returned  to  the  large  room,  where  many  visitors  had  as- 
sembled. Coffee  and  pipes  were  served.  Songs  were  sung 
in  praise  of  the  Agha,  and  of  the  Vice-Consul,  and  other 
guests.  The  songs  which  called  forth  the  greatest  energy 
were  descriptions  of  contending  armies  and  of  the  chase. 
Arrack  was  handed  round  to  the  singers,  but  none  of  the 
Bedouins  partook  of  it.  Little  Nimr,  the  son  of  the  Agha, 
arrived.  He  was  about  seven  years  old.  He  came  bound- 
ing into  the  room,  and  was  soon  wrapped  in  the  folds  of 
his  father's  scarlet  cloak,  and  covered  with  kisses  and 
caresses.  I  was  struck  by  the  change  in  the  somewhat 
stern  aspect  of  Salihh  Agha.  He  was  full  of  tenderness 
and  demonstrative  affection  for  his  little  son — an  ugly  boy, 
but  of  that  piquant  description  of  ugliness  which  is  some- 
times so  attractive.  The  lieutenant  wished  him  to  go  and 
have  supper  with  him;  but  he  said  archly,  "Did  I  come 
here  to  have  supper  or  to  see  the  English  Sit?" — that  is, 
the  lady.  He  came  and  nestled  by  my  side;  took  my 
hands  in  his ;  felt  my  dress,  and  said  it  was  nice  and  soft. 
He  showed  in  every  action  that  he  was  accustomed  to  be 
noticed  very  much,  and  to  be  lovingly  treated. 

"Wrestling  was  proposed,  and  Nimr  immediately  chal- 
lenged Elias,  the  son  of  Stephani,  a  slightly-made,  very 
pretty  boy,  also  about  seven,  who  deliberately  took  off  his 


A  HOME   AT   SHEFA  'aMER.  199 

little  brown  braided  and  hooded  pelisse,  while  Nimr  threw 
down  his  loose  camel's-hair  cloak.  They  each  wore  scarlet 
cloth  jackets,  with  hanging  sleeves  like  the  hussars',  wide- 
sleeved,  long  white  cotton  shirts,  and  very  full  scarlet 
trowsers.  They  took  off  the  latter  and  their  shoes.  Little 
Nimr — that  is,  the  Tiger — looked  proudly  impatient.  Young 
Elias,  quietly  in  earnest,  made  a  spring  on  Nimr  and  threw 
him  down.  The  men  clapped  their  hands  and  shouted. 
The  wrestling  was  carried  on  for  nearly  half  an  hour. 
Elias  was,  almost  in  every  instance,  the  victor.  At  last 
Nimr,  with  a  mortified  look,  after  many  falls,  ran  to  his 
father  and  hid  himself  in  the  folds  of  the  scarlet  cloak. 
Elias  looked  quite  calm  and  unexcited  by  his  success. 
He  sat  quietly  by  my   side. 

I  find  that  wrestling  is  a  very  common  exercise  in  the 
Bedouin  tents.  Salihh  Agha's  elder  boys,  of  fifteen  and 
sixteen  years  of  age,  were  present.  They  behaved  with 
great  deference  and  respect  to  their  father,  and  did  not 
sit,  or  take  coffee,  or  smoke  in  his  presence  without  his 
permission;  but  since  that  time  the  eldest  son  has  dis- 
tinguished himself  in  warfare,  and  has  killed  an  enemy 
of  his  tribe  with  his  own  hand;  so  he  now  enjoys  the 
dignity  and  privileges  of  manhood,  and  equality  with  his 
father. 

The  room  was  cleared  of  the  numerous  guests  at  an 
early  hour,  and  then  the  wife  of  Habib — my  host — and 
four  women  came  to  see  me.  One  of  them  offered  to 
sleep  in  the  guest-chamber  with  me,  thinking  I  should 
be  frightened.  The  Arabs  are  very  timid  at  night,  and 
always  congregate  together  to  sleep,  and  burn  lamps  to 
drive  away  evil  spirits  when  under  a  roof.  They  were 
surprised  that  I  could  dare  to  sleep  in  darkness  and 
alone. 

The  next  morning  Habib's  wife  came  tapping  at  my 
door  early,  and  with  curiosity  examined  my  garments. 
The  room  would  soon  have  been  full  of  women  to  assist 
and  inspect  my  toilet,  if  I  had  not  decidedly  expressed 


200  DOMESTIC   LIFE   IN   PALESTINE. 

a  wisli  to  dress  before  I  received  visitors;  so  only  my 
hostess  remained.  She  afterward  led  me  to  her  room  on 
the  ground-floor.  It  was  spacious,  but  very  low.  Beds, 
bedding,  and  carpets  were  piled  up  on  a  raised  stone  bench 
on  one  side,  and  on  the  other  cooking  utensils,  dishes,  jars, 
and  stores  were  arranged.  At  the  end  of  the  room,  oppo- 
site the  door,  a  carpet  was  spread,  and  there  I  was  invited 
to  sit  down  to  breakfast.  In  a  corner  a  woman  was  pre- 
paring meat  for  cooking,  and  a  large  charcoal  brazier  stood 
near  the  door,  where  a  girl  was  roasting  coffee-berries. 
This  room  was  evidently  the  parlor,  bedroom,  and  kitchen, 
all  in  one.  A  charcoal-cellar  and  the  stables  occupied  the 
other  part  of  the  ground-floor. 

The  mother  of  my  host  was  busy  superintending  the 
baking  of  the  loaves  she  had  made  that  morning;  so  I 
went  to  the  baking-house  at  the  end  of  the  street  to  see 
her.  Stacks  of  wood,  tree-branches,  and  thorn-bushes  were 
piled  up  just  outside  the  entrance  to  it.  I  peeped  inside 
the  low,  stone  building.  It  was  like  a  furnace.  The  flat 
loaves  were  placed  on  large  sheets  of  iron,  which  were 
heated  from  beneath  by  a  glowing  and  crackling  wood  fire. 
Several  women,  whose  faces,  all  but  the  kohl-stained  eyes, 
were  vailed,  were  waiting  to  take  their  cakes  of  bread  in 
to  be  baked.  They  held  them  on  round  trays  made  of 
wicker-work  and  straw.  A  poor  little  boy,  who  looked 
>very  hungry,  came  with  only  one  small  loaf,  and  watched 
anxiously  for  his  turn. 

A  white,  semi-transparent  lizard  ran  out  from  between 
the  stones  by  the  door.  I  stooped  forward  to  examine  it. 
The  women  around  shrieked  out  exclamations  of  horror 
and  disgust.  In  answer  to  my  questions,  they  said,  "  Ya 
sittee,  that  is  an  evil  reptile,  he  crawls  over  bread  or  other 
food,  and  breathes  his  poisonous  breath  upon  it,  so  that  he 
who  eats  that  corrupted  food  may  die,  or  be  as  one  smitten 
with  leprosy."  Mohammed,  our  Egyptian  groom,  who  ap- 
proached at  the  moment,  leading  the  white  mare,  said,  "  God 
preserve  us !     The  words   of  the  women  are  true  words." 


A  GAZELLE   HUNT.  201 

I  hastened  to  prepare  for  riding.  A  gazelle  hunt  had 
been  arranged  for  that  day  by  Salihh  Agha,  and  he  had 
invited  us  to  accompany  him.  The  kawass  and  grooms 
and  the  Agha's  people  had  charge  of  some  fine  gazelle- 
hounds.  We  met  the  rest  of  the  party  down  by  the  fount- 
ain. Three  of  them  were  on  foot  leading  boar-hounds. 
They  soon  left  us,  and  entered  the  hill  country  of  Carmel 
to  seek  for  boars.  Little  Nimr  was  riding  with  the  lieu- 
tenant on  a  chestnut  horse,  whose  pedigree  they  say  could 
be  traced  back  to  the  time  of  Solomon.  His  defense 
against  fascination  was  a  white  shell,  called  wadat,  fastened 
to  a  cord  hung  round  his  neck. 

We  were  joined  by  Habib  and  Stephani,  and  our  friend 
and  fellow-townsman  Saleh  Sekhali.  The  latter  said  to  me, 
"  You  must  take  notice  to-day,  ya  sittee  Miriam,  of  the 
great  difference  between  the  vision  of  people  who  live  in 
towns  and  of  those  who  live  in  the  open  country  in  tents." 
I  soon  had  an  example  of  this,  for  Salihh  Agha  scanned 
the  horizon,  and  he  and  his  people  discerned  in  the  dis- 
tance a  horse  at  full  gallop.  Before  we  townspeople  could 
distinguish  that  the  horse  had  a  rider,  Salihh  Agha  could 
describe  his  dress  and  even  his  features,  though  he  was  a 
stranger  to  him.  His  words  were  entirely  verified  when 
the  rider  came  within  the  range  of  our  vision.  I  congrat- 
ulated Salihh  Agha  on  the  possession  of  such  a  faculty, 
and  told  him  how  much  it  astonished  me.  He  said,  "  You 
also  have  a  power  which  is  a  marvel  to  me.  I  have  seen 
the  writing  in  your  book,  [he  referred  to  the  note-book 
which  I  invariably  carried  and  frequently  used ;]  the 
strokes  and  figures  in  it  are  so  fine  and  small  and  so  close 
together  that  it  made  my  eyes  ache  to  look  at  them."  The 
Agha  could  not  even  read  or  write  his  own  language. 
Saleh  Sekhali  remarked,  "  The  good  gifts  of  Allah  are 
divided ;  praised  be  Allah !"  One  of  the  Bedouins  said, 
"  Men  who  live  in  towns  accustom  their  eyes  to  look  only 
from  one  street  to  another  and  from  one  wall  to  another, 
but  we  who   live   in  tents  see  to   the  ends  of  the  earth. 


202  DOMESTIC  LIFE  IN  PALESTINE. 

When  I  am  within  walls  I  am  as  one  struck  blind,  or  as  if 
a  vail  were  held  before  my  eyes.  There  is  no  space  for 
sight  within  the  towns." 

We  rode  on  quietly  along  the  base  of  the  hills  among 
low  brushwood,  thistles,  and  flourishing  thorns.  The 
grooms  had  great  difficulty  in  keeping  the  hounds  in,  so 
violently  did  they  struggle  to  escape.  We  traversed  a 
well-watered  valley,  where  the  mallow  was  growing  extens- 
ively, to  the  hight  of  one  or  two  feet,  with  lilac,  pink, 
and  silvery  gray  blossoms,  and  large,  thick  leaves.  Men 
and  boys  were  busy  cutting  it  and  rapidly  filling  their 
baskets.  This  plant  is  very  much  used  by  the  Arabs 
medicinally.  They  make  poultices  of  the  leaves  to  allay 
irritation  and  inflammation.  Lotions  are  prepared  from 
them  also.  "  Khubazi "  is  the  Arabic  word  for  mallows, 
and  the  little,  flat,  round  seed-vessels,  so  well  known  to 
English  children  as  "  c/ieeses,"  are  by  the  Arabs  called 
"  Khubiz,"  that  is,  "  loaves,"  for  the  Arab  bread  is  always 
flat  and  round. 

While  Stephani  was  explaining  this  to  me,  I  saw  five 
gazelles  leaping  one  after  another  from  a  thicket  of  thistles. 
They  disappeared  behind  some  juniper-trees.  We  directed 
the  attention  of  the  now  scattered  huntsmen  to  the  spot. 
They  came  galloping  recklessly  over  bushes  and  rocks. 
The  dogs  were  set  free  and  soon  started  the  gazelles.  I 
rested  in  my  saddle  with  Saleh  Sekhali  by  my  side,  watch- 
ing the  graceful  bounds  of  the  startled  animals,  the  racing 
and  leaping  of  the  hounds,  and  the  skillful  maneuvers  of 
the  horsemen.  They  missed  the  gazelles,  but  they  suc- 
ceeded in  capturing  four  fine  hares.  Then  there  was  a  start 
in  another  direction,  where  a  troop  of  antlered  gazelles  had 
been  seen.  I  followed  in  the  rear  with  the  lieutenant  and 
his  little  charge,  Nimr,  and  from  a  distance  we  observed 
the  chase  for  some  time.  Then  we  rode  across  the  plain 
between  cultivated  fields  and  gardens  of  wild  fiowers.  We 
paused  at  the  fountain  of  Jethro,  which  had  been  fixed 
upon  as  the  place  for  meeting  after   the  hunt.     There  we 


A  BEDOUIN   DINNER.  203 

found  the  Agha's  people  preparing  dinner.  They,  had  dug 
two  broad,  shallow  pits  in  the  ground,  in  which  they  had 
made  fires  of  wood  and  thorns.  In  one  a  lamb  was  being 
baked  whole,  and  over  the  other  a  caldron  of  rice  was 
boiling. 

In  a  short  time  the  whole  party  was  assembled.  The 
panting  dogs  rolled  themselves  in  the  grass,  the  horsemen 
dismounted,  and  with  difficulty  the  frisky  and  loudly- 
neighing  horses  were  tethered.  Some  were  fastened  to  iron 
stakes  or  pins  driven  in  the  ground.  Grooms  and  horsemen 
generally  carry  them  when  they  journey  in  places  where 
there  are  no  trees  or  rocks  to  which  to  bind  the  animals. 
All  the  men,  however,  had  not  been  equally  provident. 
Heavy  stones  were  sought  for  and  halters  fastened  to  them, 
but  not  quite  securely.  The  consequence  was  that  two 
horses  escaped  and  galloped  away.  I  could  not  help  being 
amused  with  the  chase  after  these  runaways,  through 
marshes  and  tangled  masses  of  vegetation.  I  preferred  it 
to  the  pursuit  of  the  swift-footed,  poor  little  frightened  ga- 
zelles, whose  escape  gratified  me  more  than  their  capture 
did.  The  horses  were  caught  at  last,  together,  by  the 
banks  of  a  stream.  When  we  reassembled  we  took  our 
seats  in  the  shade  of  the  dome  of  the  fountain,  with  acres 
of  wild  flowers  round  us.  Dinner  was  ready.  Two  men 
brought  the  lamb  on  a  large  metal  dish  or  tray ;  two  others 
carried  a  mountain  of  rice,  yellow  with  butter.  Boys  ar- 
rived with  bowls  of  sweet  clotted  cream  and  new  milk,  and 
dishes  of  lebbeny.  These  provisions  were  arranged  on  a 
carpet  of  clover  and  mallows  and  grass.  We  washed  our 
hands,  the  servants  pouring  water  over  them  from  earthen- 
ware jars.  Large  Bedouin  cloaks  and  saddle-cloths  were 
spread  for. us,  and  we  gathered  round  the  smoking  and  sa- 
vory fare. 

Each  one  of  the  Arabs  on  preparing  to  touch  food  ut- 
tered the  words,  "  In  the  name  of  God  the  most  Bountiful." 
The  lamb  was  soon  skillfully  dissected  by  Saleh  with  his 
hunting-knife.     A  servant  handed  a  flat,  thin,  large,  leath- 


204  DOMESTIC  LIFE  IN  PALESTINE. 

ery  loaf  to  each  of  us.  The  lamb  was  stuffed  with  rice 
and  minced  meat,  almonds,  raisins,  walnuts,  and  spice. 
Salihh  Agha  placed  some  on  my  flat  loaf,  which  served  me 
as  a  plate,  and  he  gave  me  a  lump  of  meat  in  my  hands. 
He  had  separated  it  from  the  bone  with  his  short  hunting- 
dagger.  The  Arabs  cook  their  meat  so  thoroughly  that  it. 
is  very  tender  and  easily  pulled  and  torn  to  pieces. 

The  men  made  deep  depressions  in  the  pyramidal  mount- 
ain of  rice — but  each  one  carefully  helped  himself  from 
that  part  of  the  dish  which  was  nearest  to  him,  and  did  not, 
if  he  could  avoid  it,  disturb  the  rice  near  to  the  hole  made 
in  it  by  his  neighbor,  except  when  by  way  of  courtesy  he 
placed  a  delicate  morsel  of  meat  into  it  now  and  then.  A 
roasted  hare  was  added  to  the  feast  and  soon  distributed. 
The  cream  was  eaten  voraciously  by  dipping  pieces  of  bent 
bread  into  it  and  scooping  it  up  as  with  a  spoon,  so  the 
spoon  and  its  contents  disappeared  together.  Scarcely  a 
word  was  spoken  by  the  Arabs  during  the  meal.  One  by 
one  they  retired,  saying,  "  God  be  praised,"  and  went  to  the 
fountain  to  wash  their  hands  and  mouths,  uttering  an  invo- 
cation to  Allah. 

We  afterward  rested  for  a  short  time,  and  pipes  and  coffee 
were  handed  round.  I  took  the  opportunity  of  putting  the 
Agha,  his  little  son,  and  his  attendant,  Khalil,  into  my 
sketch-book.  The  latter  seemed  rather  alarmed  when  he 
saw  what  I  had  done,  and  begged  of  me  not  to  show  his 
portrait  in  certain  districts,  for  a  price  was  set  upon  his 
head,  and  men  sought  after  him  to  kill  him.  In  the  mean 
time,  the  servants  and  people  so  far  emptied  the  large 
metal  trays  or  dishes,  that  I  could  plainly  see  the  Arabic 
sentences  engraved  on  them — extracts  from  the  Koran,  and 
words  of  praise  and  prayer.  Then  most  of  the  men  cov- 
ered their  faces  and  slept,  while  I  wandered  about  gathering 
and  pressing  specimens  of  all  the  flowers  I  could  find,  little 
Nimr  good-naturedly  helping  me.  Besides  the  ranunculus 
and  anemone  and  others  equally  familiar,  I  met  with  many 
flowers  which  were   strange   to   me.     One  was  pink,  and 


RETURN  TO   HAIFA.  205 

shaped  very  like  a  primrose,  with  pointed,  succulent  leaves 
growing  in  pairs  up  the  stem.  Pressure  always  changed 
the  color  of  the  flower  from  pink  to  blue.  This  plant 
would  be  a  welcome  addition  to  our  gardens  in  England, 
where  I  have  never  yet  found  it.  I  made  a  drawing  of  the 
dome  over  the  pleasant  fountain,  and  when  the  sleepers 
woke  they  said,  "  Mashallah,  the  English  girl  takes  no 
rest — God  gives  her  strength."  We  took  leave  of  the  Agha 
and  his  people  and  our  Shefa  'Amer  friends,  and  rode  with 
Saleh  and  our  servants  toward  Haifa,  carrying  one  gazelle 
and  two  hares.  "We  saw  many  groups  of  horses  and  camels 
grazing  under  the  care  of  the  Agha's  men  on  the  unculti- 
vated portions  of  the  plain.  Tortoises  met  us  and  paused 
as  if  alarmed.  They  looked  about  them  for  an  instant  and 
then  drew  their  heads  under  their  horny  shields.  Hundreds 
of  small  birds  fluttered  out  of  the  tall  grass,  disturbed  by 
our  approach,  and  flocks  of  wild  ducks  and  geese  now  and 
then  flew  across  the  plain  toward  the  marshes,  and  sea-gulls 
flapped  their  wings  above  us.  We  crossed  the  drifted  sand- 
hills, and  cantered  along  the  smooth  sea-shore  toward  the 
Kishon.  Men  were  standing  on  its  banks,  throwing  large 
floating  nets,  assisted  by  boys  in  a  little  boat  in  the  middle 
of  the  river.  The  fishes  of  the  Kishon  are  rather  small, 
but  abundant,  and  delicate  in  flavor. 

There  were  seven  ships  ofi"  Haifa — Greek,  French,  and 
Turkish.  The  sun  was  low  when  we  went,  one  after  the 
other,  over  the  sand-bar.  We  hastened  onward  by  the 
water's  edge,  letting  our  horses'  feet  just  touch  the  fringe 
of  the  sparkling  waves,  startling  hundreds  of  small  white 
and  sand-colored  crabs.  Their  black  eyes  are  fixed  on  the 
points  of  movable  pinnacles,  which  are  thrust  out  from  the 
round  eye-sockets,  and  stand  upright.  They  scampered 
hither  and  thither  nimbly,  to  get  out  of  our  way.  Their 
rapidly-moving  forms  were  repeated  on  the  shining  wet 
sands,  till  shape  and  shadow  were  lost  under  the  coming 
wave.  I  have  often  caught  and  examined  these  curious 
little  crabs.     They  are   always  very  light   in   color — white 


206  DOMESTIC  LIFE  IN   PALESTINE. 

or  sandy — and  they  vary  from  one  to  three  inches  in  length. 
I  think  that  they  must  be  of  the  kind  called  "  Cancer  Vo- 
lans."  They  make  holes  in  the  sand,  near  the  sea,  and 
seem  very  timid  when  disturbed.  They  sometimes,  how- 
ever, resent  interference.  I  have  seen  our  gazelle-hound, 
"  Risheh,"  amuse  himself  by  running  after  them,  torment- 
ing them  as  a  cat  does  a  mouse,  or  peering  into  their  bur- 
rows. When  they  had  an  opportunity,  they  used  to  cling 
to  his  long,  delicate  nose  or  lip,  and  he  -had  some  difficulty 
in  shaking  them  off;  but  I  never  saw  him  destroy  or  injure 
one  in  any  way.  Fishermen  use  these  crabs  for  bait,  and 
make  traps  for  them  in  the  sand,  in  imitation  of  their 
burrows. 

There  were  many  friends  to  greet  us  as  we  entered  the 
gate  of  Haifa;  for  it  was  the  hour  of  sunset,  when  people 
flock  into  town  after  an  evening  stroll.  There  was  the 
Mutsellim,  surrounded  by  his  suite,  walking  slowly,  with 
his  silver  and  coral  rosary  in  his  hand,  and  his  pipe-bearer 
by  his  side.  A  little  group  of  Jews  were  there  too,  some 
wearing  broad-brimmed  hats  and  long  gabardines,  others 
with  dark  shawl-turbans  and  short  cloth  or  silk  pelisses 
lined  with  fur.  Apart  from  these  were  companies  of  quite 
unrecognizable  women,  shrouded  in  white  sheets  from  head 
to  foot.  They  looked  like  moving  pillars,  for  they  took 
such  short  steps,  scarcely  lifting  their  feet  from  the  ground, 
that  their  progress  should  be  called  gliding  instead  of  walk- 
ing. Even  their  little  children  seemed  unnaturally  demure 
and  stately. 

Short,  sturdy-looking  oxen,  fat  sheep,  with  long,  broad, 
heavy  tails,  and  black,  glossy-haired  goats,  led  by  the 
herdsmen,  were  returning  from  the  pleasant  but  unpro- 
tected pastures  to  seek  shelter  within  the  town  walls  for 
the  night.  The  Christians  were  at  the  same  time  entering 
in  at  the  opposite  gate ;  for  they  almost  always  walk  toward 
the  western  hills  and  plains — perhaps  because  their  ceme- 
teries are  west  of  the  town;  while  the  Moslems  prefer  the 
eastern  suburbs,  where  they  bury  their  dead. 


CHURCH   SERVICES.  207 

The  call  to  prayer  was  echoing  clearly  through  the  town 
from  the  balcony  of  the  crescent-crowned  minaret,  while 
the  vesper-bell  was  ringing  from  the  little  belfry  of  the 
Latin  church.  Some  of  the  people  paused  from  their 
work,  or  stood  still  in  the  streets,  to  cross  themselves, 
and  to  mutter  an  "Ave  Maria"  in  Arabic;  while  the  rest 
were  declaring,  "There  is  no  God  but  God,  and  Mohammed 
is  his  prophet." 

On  Sunday  my  brother  always  read  the  Church  service 
in  Arabic,  in  the  drawing-room  of  the  Consulate,  at  nine 
o'clock.  When  British  vessels  were  in  port,  we  had  service 
at  eleven,  with  such  of  the  captains  and  sailors  as  could 
attend;  and  English  travelers  who  were  passing  through 
the  country  occasionally  joined  us.  Saleh  Sekhali  was 
invariably  present  at  the  Arabic  service,  and  no  one  was 
excluded  from  it.  We  generally  mustered  about  si^  or 
seven.  People  came  perhaps  the  more  readily  because 
they  were  not  pressed  or  even  invited  to  come.  Curiosity 
induced  many  to  pay  one  or  more  visits.  The  Arabs,  and 
especially  the  Christian  Arabs,  could  not  understand  how 
we  could  have  religion  without  a  Priest;  solemnity  without 
an  Altar;  how  we  could  worship  without  a  Church;  or 
realize  the  presence  of  God  without  the  elevation  of  the 
Host.  They  were  always  quietly  and  earnestly  attentive 
while  listening  to  portions  of  the  Old  and  New  Testament. 
After  prayers,  Saleh  Sekhali  often  read  by  request  several 
chapters,  selecting  some  history  or  essay  complete  in  itself. 
Women  of  the  Greek  or  Latin  Churches  came  occasion- 
ally, and  remained  unvailed  when  only  Christians  were 
present;  but  if  a  Moslem  was  announced  they  retreated 
immediately.  The  Moslems  always  expressed  themselves 
much  pleased  with  the  service,  on  account  of  its  simplicity 
and  reverential  character.  I  find  that,  besides  the  Koran, 
they  regard  al  Tora^  the  Pentateuch;  a'  Zahur,  the  Psalms; 
a'  Nahiyeh,  the  Prophets;  and  al  Anjili^  the  New  Testa- 
ment, as  holy  or  inspired  books.  Those  who  receive  any 
one  of  these  are  to  be  tolerated. 


208  DOMESTIC  LIFE  IN  PALESTINE. 

The  new  Governor,  Saleh  Bek  Abd-ul-Hady,  an  Arab, 
came  now  and  then.  He  said  that  if  there  were  an 
English  college  in  the  country,  he  would  immediately  send 
his  boys  to  it.  Many  of  our  neighbors  wished  to  send 
their  little  girls  for  a  few  hours  every  day  to  my  care; 
but  I  could  not  undertake  the  charge ;  though,  whenever 
I  had  time  to  spare,  I  encouraged  children  to  come  to  the 
house — the  only  condition  being  that  they  should  be  clean 
and  neat. 

Moslem  boys  do  not  generally  play  with  Christians, 
and  even  the  Christian  children  are  divided  among  them- 
selves. Those  belonging  to  the  Greek  Church  have  their 
street  games  apart  from  those  who  belong  to  the  Latin 
Church,  and  they  only  unite  to  persecute  the  poor  little 
Jews. 

A.  gentle-looking  little  girl,  of  about  six  years  of  age, 
whose  father  was  a  much-respected  European  and  mother 
an  Arab,  surprised  me  very  much  one  day  by  saying, 
in  Arabic,  without  any  provocation,  and  with  a  gesture 
of  scorn,  to  a  Jewish  workman,  "Go,  thou  Jew,  and  be 
crucified!"  The  child,  naturally  good-natured  and  afi'ec- 
tionate,  shuddered  when  she  partially  understood  how  cruel 
and  unjust  her  words  had  been.  By  my  wish  she  begged 
pardon  of  the  Jew;  and  then,  by  her  own  impulse,  and  to 
his  great  wonder,  kissed  his  hands,  while  tears  stood  in 
her  eyes. 

It  was  with  the  hope  of  checking,  as  far  as  I  could,  this 
spirit  of  hatred,  intolerance,  and  persecution,  that  I  en- 
couraged the  little  ones  of  Haifa  to  meet  together  in  my 
room.'  I  prepared  entertainments  for  them,  played  with 
them,  told  them  stories  about  England,  showed  them  pic- 
tures, avoiding  reference  to  their  various  creeds.  By  mak- 
ing them  happy  together,  I  hoped  that  they  would  learn 
unconsciously  to  love  one  another. 

I  used  sometimes  to  leave  the  children  to  amuse  them- 
selves alone,  while  I  retreated  to  the  end  of  the  room, 
whence  I  could  see  and  hear  all  that  was  going  on,  without 


USES   OF  THE   ROSARY.  209 

throwing  any  check  on  their  natural  impulses.  At  such 
times,  I  have  heard  girls  of  seven  and  eight  years  of  age, 
and  even  younger  ones,  discussing  the  comparative  value 
of  the  wardrobes  and  jewels  of  the  ladies  of  Haifa.  One 
child  would  say,  "  Sit  Hafifi  has  the  largest  pearls  and 
emeralds,"  and,  "Such  a  one  has  the  greatest  number  of 
diamonds,"  and  "  Um  Elia  has  the  handsomest  dresses  and 
embroidered  jackets."  They  could  tell  how  many  coins  the 
women  from  Nazareth,  who  lived  in  Haifa,  had  on  their 
head-dresses. 

On  Sunday,  February  24th,  a  Moslem,  of  considerable 
influence  and  learning,  asked  permission  to  attend  the 
Morning  Service.  We  welcomed  him,  and  he.  Prayer- 
book  in  hand,  followed  every  word  attentively,  evincing 
unusual  interest,  or  curiosity.  He  even  abandoned  his  am- 
ber rosary  for  the  time.  Directly  after  prayers,  however, 
the  beads  were  to  be  seen  again,  rapidly  slipping  through 
his  well-shaped,  carefully-trimmed  fingers.  A  Moslem  does 
not  appear  at  ease  till  he  has  a  pipe  in  one  hand  and  a 
chaplet  in  the  other. 

When  the  Christians  had  gone,  I  said  to  him,  "Will 
your  Excellency  tell  me  the  use  of  tlie  rosary?  Is  it  sim- 
ply a  toy,  or  is  it  a  help  to  reckon  prayer  or  praise?" 

Without  showing  the  slightest  unwillingness,  he  ex- 
plained its  use,  saying,  "  The  attributes  or  characteristic 
excellencies  of  God  are  manifold ;  but  there  are  ninety- 
nine  which  should  be  learned,  and  remembered  continually, 
by  all  men.  These  rosaries  consist  of  ninety-nine,  or  thirty- 
three  beads,  on  which  to  reckon  the  attributes,  thus" — he 
took  the  chaplet  out  of  my  hands,  and,  while  passing  bead 
after  bead  through  his  fingers,  said,  with  unusual  slowness 
and  solemnity:  "God  the  Creator — God  the  Preserver — 
God  the  most  Bountiful — God  the  Deliverer — God  the 
Eternal — God  the  Ever-present — God  the  All-seeing — God 
the  most  Merciful — God  the  All-powerful— God  the  King 
of  Kings  " — and  so  on,  till  the  chaplet  had  passed  three 
times  through  his  hands  j    for  it  consisted   of  only  thirty- 


210  DOMESTIC  LIFE   IN  PALESTINE. 

three  large  egg-shaped  beads  of  clouded  amber.  When  he 
found  how  much  pleased  I  was,  he  took  pains  to  teach  me 
the  attributes. 

I  said  to  him,  "Now  that  your  Excellency  has  made  me 
understand  the  solemn  and  beautiful  words  of  the  rosary, 
I  shall  be  always  sorry  to  hear  them  said  quickly  and 
thoughtlessly."  He  answered,  "  You  are  right,  0  my  sis- 
ter. God  is  to  be  approached  with  reverence."  But  I 
could  perceive  that  he  found  it  much  more-  difficult  to  re- 
peat the  attributes  leisurely^  than  to  utter  them,  as  usual, 
rapidly.  After  a  pause,  he  said,  "  To  every  man  who  is 
not  hateful  or  erring,  one  of  these  Divine  attributes  espe- 
cially belongs,  and  influences  his  life."  The  date  of  the 
birth  of  an  individual,  in  conjunction  with  his  name,  prop- 
erly reckoned,  discovers  the  particular  attribute.  As  an 
example,  he  calculated  mine,  and  always  afterward  called 
me  "  Miriam  the  Intercessor.''^  I  asked  my  Moslem  teacher 
in  what  sense  the  word  "  Intercessor  "  was  used  as  an  attri- 
bute of  God.  He  regarded  it  simply  as  mercy  and  good- 
ness, and  readiness  to  pardon.  Another  Moslem  told  me, 
one  day,  that  it  implied  mercy  pleading  with  justice.  He 
acknowledged  to  me  that  he  did  not  regard  fasts,  and  forms, 
and  ceremonies  as  important.  He  thought  that  doing  our 
duty  to  man,  and  giving  thanks  to  God,  were  all-sufficient. 
But  he  added,  "  If  I  did  not  keep  the  fasts  and  feasts,  and 
perform  certain  ablutions  and  prayers  three  times  a  day, 
my  voice  would  not  be  heard  in  the  Medjlis — that  is,  the 
Council — and  I  should  lose  all  my  influence."  He  assured 
me  that  there  were  many  enlightened  men  who  felt  as  he 
did  on  the  subject,  but  they  hid  the  thoughts  of  their 
hearts. 

My  brother  scarcely  ever  spoke  to  Moslems  about  their 
religion,  and  warned  me  to  be  cautious  how  I  did  so; 
consequently,  I  never  introduced  the  subject,  directly  or 
indirectly,  except  when  I  found  myself  with  any  one  of 
superior  intelligence  and  judgment,  and  then  only  care- 
fully, and  as  an  inquirer — never  as  a  teacher  or  proselytizer. 


A  CHRISTENING  CEREMONY.  211 

I  invariably  met  with  good-natured,  if  not  satisfactory, 
answers,  and  gained  some  interesting  information.  I  was 
satisfied  that  I  did  not  give  oflfense  by  the  fact  that  my 
society  was  most  sought  for  by  those  whom  I  had  thus 
questioned — probably  on  account  of  the  novelty  of  the 
circumstance. 

In  the  afternoon  all  the  Europeans  then  in  Haifa  as- 
sembled, and  walked  in  procession  to  the  Latin  church, 
to  witness  the  christening  of  Jules,  the  infant  son  of  the 
French  Consul.  Kawasses  led  the  way.  The  child  was 
placed  on  a  crimson  silk  pillow,  and  carried  by  the  nurse, 
Helwe,  an  old  woman  of  Nazareth.  The  father,  Mons. 
Aumann,  conducted  me.  He  said  that  there  had  never 
before  been  such  a  procession  of  Europeans  through  those 
narrow  and  crooked  streets.  It  was  formed  of  Consuls, 
and  captains  whose  ships  were  in  port,  monks  from  Mount 
Carmel,  and  merchants  of  Haifa,  and  two  elderly  Greek 
ladies,  with  large  black  lace  shawls  folded  over  their  red 
cloth  caps.  The  godmother  was  of  Greek  birth,  but  she 
wore  an  Arab  costume,  and  was  shrouded  in  a  white 
sheet.  We  entered  the  little  square  church.  Near  to 
the  highly  and  gaudily-decorated  altar  a  number  of  bare- 
headed men — Arabs — were  prostrating  themselves,  or  beat- 
ing their  breasts.  Behind  them  a  group  of  women  and 
girls,  almost  shrouded  in  white  sheets,  kneeled  languidly, 
with  mother-of-pearl  rosaries  in  their  henna-stained  hands. 
Their  many-colored  mundils — muslin  vails — were  thrown 
back  over  their  heads,  and  bright,  everlasting  flowers,  and 
jewels,  and  brighter  eyes,  in  dark  settings  of  kohl,  were 
exposed.  The  men — Arabs — carefully  avoided  looking 
toward  the  women ;  but  some  of  the  latter  seemed  to 
expect  to  attract  the  admiration  of  the  less  scrupulous 
Europeans,  and  were  not  disappointed.  On  a  table  near 
to  the  font  sacred  oil  and  salt,  and  other  necessaries  for 
the  ceremony  of  christening,  were  arranged  on  a  white 
embroidered  cloth.  The  parish  priest  read  the  baptismal 
service  in  Latin,  but  the  little  hero  of  the  day  somewhat 


212  DOMESTIC    LIFE   IN  PALESTINE. 

disturbed  and  disconcerted  him  by  screaming  lustily.  He 
strongly  objected  to  the  taste  of  the  salt,  and  to  the  appli- 
cation of  the  water  to  his  head,  and  of  the  oil  to  his  chest. 
It  was  a  relief  to  every  one  present,  especially  to  the  priest, 
when  the  ceremony  was  over,  and  the  "  newly-made  little 
Christian" — as  they  all  called  him — was  comforted  in  the 
arms  of  his  nurse.  We  returned  to  the  French  Consulate. 
There  was  a  large  gathering  in  the  marble-paved  salon, 
where  the  happy  mother  received  the  congratulations  of 
her  neighbors,  for  Judas  was  her  only  son.  It  was  quite 
a  fete-day  in  Haifa,  especially  among  the  Latins.  Oranges 
boiled  in  sugar  and  spice,  lemons  cut  up  and  preserved  in 
honey,  all  sorts  of  Oriental  confectionery  made  of  sweet- 
ened starch  and  gums,  and  French  honhons  and  liqueurs, 
were  distributed. 

I  took  leave  of  the  assembled  guests,  and  strolled  with 
my  brother  out  at  the  West  Gate.  The  declining  sun  was 
brightening  the  green  slopes,  the  trees,  and  white  rocks 
of  the  Carmel  range.  A  small  pink  flower  had  sprung  up 
plentifully  in  the  stony  places  of  the  plain.  Each  blossom 
was  in  the  form  of  a  foliated  Greek  cross,  and  the  small 
green  leaves  were  heart-shaped.  We  sat  on  the  mossy 
trunk  and  in  the  lengthening  shade  of  a  large  locust-tree, 
discussing  the  events  of  the  day,  enjoying  the  scene  and 
the  silence;  for  we  had  wandered  quite  out  of  sight  of  the 
town.  We  were  in  the  midst  of  a  grove  of  fig,  locust,  and 
olive-trees.  The  ground  was  carpeted  with  wild  flowers; 
the  hills,  fragrant  with  aromatic  herbs,  rose  behind  us,*^ 
and  the  broad  sea,  red  with  the  rays  of  the  setting  sun, 
was  before  us. 

Our  tete-a-tete  was  interrupted  by  the  approach  of  our 
kawass,  who  came  to  announce  the  arrival  of  a  special 
messenger  from  Jerusalem.  The  messenger  himself  soon 
appeared.  He  was  a  tall,  powerful-looking  African,  very 
black  and  bony,  clad  simply  in  a  coarse,  unbleached  cotton 
shirt,  girdled  with  a  leather  strap.  A  large  white  turban 
protected  his  head  and  shaded  his  face.     His  wide,  pliant 


AFRICAN  FOOT-MESSENGER.  213 

feet  were  bare.  He  had  walked  all  the  way  from  Jeru- 
salem in  three  days,  and  was  the  bearer  of  important 
dispatches  from  Her  Britannic  Majesty's  Consul,  Mr.  Finn. 
He  drew  the  packet  from  his  bosom,  and  kissed  my  broth- 
er's hands  as  he  presented  it,  and  then  stood  resting  on  his 
long,  thick  staff. 

I  found  that  the  letters  contained  directions  for  my 
brother  to  proceed  immediately  to  Nablus,  to  report  the 
state  of  affairs  there,  and  to  ascertain  the  true  cause  or 
causes  of  the  disturbances  in  the  town  and  in  the  mountain 
districts  around.  A  letter  from  Mrs.  Finn  advised  and 
invited  me  to  accompany  him  as  far  as  Nablus;  that  an 
escort  might  meet  me  there  to  take  me  on  to  Jerusalem  to 
spend  Easter  with  her.  Rumors  had  reached  Haifa  every 
day  for  some  time  past  of  skirmishes,  and  even  pitched 
battles,  between  the  supporters  of  Mahmoud  Bek  Abd-ul- 
Hady,  the  newly-appointed  Governor  of  Nablus,  and  the 
partisans  of  his  predecessor  in  office.  A  tour  through 
the  Jebel  Nablus  district  was  in  consequence  considered 
rather  hazardous,  and  rain  would  be  sure  to  set  in  in 
a  day  or  two.  However,  I  consented  to  go,  on  the  con- 
dition that  my  brother  would  promise  to  travel  exactly 
as  if  he  were  alone,  both  with  regard  to  the  selection 
of  the  route  and  of  the  halting-places,  and  the  length 
of  each  day's  journey.  This  settled,  he  proved  to  me  that 
he  understood  I  was  in  earnest  by  saying,  "Then  we  will 
start  at  sunrise  to-morrow,  for  that  is  what  I  should  do  if 
I  were  going  alone." 

This  was  a  sudden  change  in  our  plans.  Till  past  mid- 
night I  was  busy  packing  portmanteaus,  and  providing  for 
the  safety  of  the  house  and  furniture  for  an  indefinite 
period,  and  guarding  against  the  intrusion  of  rats  and 
mice,  moth  and  rust. 

In  the  mean  time  my  brother  was  in  his  office,  in 
earnest  consultation  with  his  agent  and  our  Governor, 
Sal  eh  Bek.  The  latter  asked  to  see  me.  I  went  to  him, 
and  he  said,  "My  sister,  you  have  a  brave  heart.     You 


214  DOMESTIC   LIFE   IN   PALESTINE. 

are  going  on  a  difficult  journey,  but  you  have  no  reason 
to  fear  any  one,  for  you  have  no  enemies.  After  a  day  or 
two  you  will  reach  my  town — Arrabeh — and  there  you  will 
find  rest,  and  my  wives  and  my  children  will  welcome  you, 
for  they  are  still  there.  I  have  prepared  to  receive  them 
here,  and  have  sent  for  them  several  times,  but  they  have 
not  courage  to  travel,  now  that  war  has  broken  out.  If 
you  reach  Arrabeh  in  safety,  and  they  see  you,  perhaps 
their  hearts  will  be  made  strong.  God  be  with  you  and 
protect  you!  May  you  find  rest  at  Arrabeh,  and  peace 
whithersoever  you  go!" 


FROM  HAIFA  TO  ARRABEH.  215 


CHAPTER  IX. 

FROM  HAIFA  TO  ARRABEH. 

After  a  few  hours  of  perfect  rest,  I  rose  before  the 
sun,  on  Monday,  the  25th  of  February.  Katrine,  who  had 
begged  to  accompany  us,  had  packed  up  her  bundle  of 
clothes,  and  was  rejoicing  at  the  thought  of  spending  the 
Festival  of  Easter  at  Jerusalem,  for  she  was  an  earnest 
devotee.  She  had  newly  dressed  her  eyes  with  kohl  for 
the  occasion.  I  told  her  of  the  difficulties  of  the  journey. 
She  assured  me  that  she  had  no  fear,  for  she  had  made  a 
pilgrimage  to  the  Chapel  of  the  Madonna  on  Mount  Carmel, 
and  wore  round  her  neck  a  potent  charm,  which  she  had 
obtained  there,  believing  it  would  preserve  her  from  all 
danger.  It  was  a  scapulary,  that  is,  a  rudely-printed  pic- 
ture of  the  Virgin  and  Child,  on  a  piece  of  linen,  one  or 
two  inches  square,  said  to  be  a  portion  of  the  smock  which 
thd  blessed  Virgin  left  on  Mount  Carmel  when  she  gra- 
ciously appeared  in  a  vision  to  one  of  the  monks  of  old. 
This  smock  must  have  been  a  very  large  one,  for  it  furnishes 
an  unlimited  number  of  scapularies,  which  are  sold  by 
thousands  to  pilgrims  from  all  parts  of  Europe.  All  the 
native  Christians  of  Haifa  wear  them,  and  most  of  the 
Europeans  do  also.  I  only  know  two  or  three  exceptions. 
Some  scapularies  are  enshrined  in  crystal  lockets,  i)r  adorned 
with  spangles  and  beads.  Others  are  simply  bound  or  lined 
with  silk,  or  embroidered  at  the  edges.  Once,  when  I  was 
ill,  poor  Katrine  put  one  secretly  round  my  neck  while  I 
slept;  and  now,  in  preparation  for  the  journey,  she  tried  to 
induce  me  to  avail  myself  of  its  protection. 

The  court  was  crowded  with  well-wishers,  who  came  to 
say,  "Grod  be  with  you,"  and   to   express  their   regrets  at 


216  DOMESTIC  LIFE  IN  PALESTINE. 

our  departure.  The  general  impression  was,  tliat  we  were 
going  on  a  perilous  expedition.  Town  Arabs,  especially 
the  Christians,  are  generally  rather  timid,  and  being  some- 
what deliberate  in  their  movements,  they  were  wondering  at 
the  rapidity  of  ours.  All  articles  of  value  were  deposited 
at  the  French  Consulate,  the  perishable  stores  were  dis- 
tributed, and  very  soon  after  sunrise  we  were  mounted  and 
ready  to  start.  A  guide,  fully  armed,  furnished  by  our 
governor,  with  our  kawass,  Hadj  Dervish,  led  the  way.  I 
followed,  with  my  brother,  and  the  French  Consul's  Arab 
secretary,  who  had  begged  to  join  us.  Then  came  the 
muleteer,  with  the  luggage  and  canteen,  Mohammed,  our 
Egyptian  groom,  Katrine,  shrouded  in  a  large  camel's-hair 
cloak  and  mounted  on  horseback,  and  the  tall  African  mes- 
senger on  foot.  We  had  advised  him  to  rest  a  day  or  two 
at  Haifa,  but  he  declared  that  he  was  not  tired,  and  he  said 
that  riding  would  be  more  fatiguing  to  him  than  walking, 
for  he  was  not  accustomed  to  it. 

When  we  had  taken  leave  of  our  friends  at  the  gate  of 
the  town,  and  had  passed  the  Moslem  cemetery,  Katrine 
had  disappeared.  On  inquiry,  I  heard  that,  in  spite  of  her 
scapulary,  her  courage  had  failed  her,  and  she  had  turned 
back,  saying  to  the  groom,  that  she  thought  it  would  rain, 
so  she  would  go  home  again!  Our  agent,  who  was  riding 
with  us  a  short  distance  on  our  way — receiving  final  in- 
structions— undertook  to  protect  her  during  our  absence. 

The  hills  around  were  capped  with  bkck  clouds,  and  be- 
fore we  had  passed  the  gardens  of  Haifa  a  heavy  shower 
commenced.  We  drew  our  hooded  cloaks  over  our  heads, 
and  rode  on  regardless  of  it.  When  we  reached  the  rocky 
spring  of  Sa'adeh,  the  rain-clouds  suddenly  traveled  away 
in  all  directions,  leaving  a  bright  bit  of  deep-blue  sky  just 
above  us;  but  on  the  mountains  and  over  the  sea  the  rain 
still  fell — dark  heavy  curtains  seemed  to  be  hanging  from 
the  heavens,  and  they  were  torn  and  swayed  by  the  change- 
ful breezes.  The  spring  among  the  rocks  and  reeds  had 
considerably  increased  in  force  and  extent  since  I  had  seen 


BEDOUIN   CAMP.  217 

it  in  December.  "We  crossed  it  cautiously  and  in  safety. 
Many  a  tree^ad  been  torn  up  by  the  roots  by  the  Winter 
torrents.  Large  stone  bowlders,  which  a  short  time  before 
were  firmly  imbedded  in  the  earth,  had  been  undermined, 
and  stood  tottering  on  the  hill-side,  as  if  ready  to  fall  on 
us.  The  rain-refreshed  grass  and  trees  and  flowers  glis- 
tened in  the  gleams  of  sunlight,  and  filled  the  air  with 
sweet  odors. 

We  left  the  Nazareth  road  and  took  a  south-easterly 
direction,  along  the  borders  of  the  almost  dry  bed  of  a 
branch  of  the  Kishon.  We  entered  the  "  Wady-el-Milh," 
the  Valley  of  Salt.  Among  other  wild  flowers  on  the  way- 
side, I  recognized  with  strange  delight  patches  of  "  crimson- 
tipped  "  daisies.  It  was  midday.  We  were  beginning  to 
feel  hungry,  and  told  the  guide  to  pause  at  the  nearest 
spring,  that  we  might  alight  and  eat.  We  met  a  few 
camels  grazing  on  mallows  and  clover.  They  were  branded 
with  marks  which  told  us  that  they  did  not  belong  to  the 
peasantry.  "  These  camels  proclaim  that  Bedouins  are  in 
the  neighborhood.  We  will  seek  them  out,  and  take  our 
dinner  with  them  to-day,  for  wherever  we  find  them,  we 
shall  also  find  a  fountain  of  good  water,"  said  my  brother. 

When  we  had  rounded  the  next  hill,  we  saw  a  number 
of  square  black  tents,  high  up  among  the  rocks  and  trees 
on  the  opposite  side  of  the  valley.  We  crossed  the  deep 
and  stony  river-bed,  and  scrambled  up  the  pathless  hill- 
side, over  the  rocks  and  tangled  brushwood.  A  group  of 
Bedouins,  in  their  large,  heavy,  white  and  brown  cloaks, 
and  red  and  yellow  fringed  shawl  head-dresses,  came  leap- 
ing down  to  meet  us,  and  to  guide  and  welcome  us  to 
their  encampment,  in  the  midst  of  which  we  dismounted. 
There  were  fifteen  tents  altogether.  We  were  led  toward 
the  sheikh's  tent,  which,  like  all  the  rest,  was  formed  of 
very  coarse  black  and  brown  "  curtains  of  goats'  hair,''^ 
supported  by  slender  trunks  of  trees  and  strong  reeds  from 
the   banks   of  the   Jordan.      A  rude  palisading,    of  inter- 

*  See  Exod.  xxxv,  26;  xxxvi,  14. 

19 


218  DOMESTIC   LIFE   IN   PALESTINE. 

woven  branches,  divided  the  tent  into  two  parts.  In  the 
lesser  compartment  some  kids  and  lambs  were  guarded,  and 
a  group  of  women  hastily  retired  from  the  other  part,  that 
it  might  be  prepared  for  us.  A  littla,  half-naked,  bronzed 
Bedouin  boy  swept  the  floor  of  earth  with  the  leafy  branches 
of  a  "  box"  tree.  A  weather-beaten  old  woman,  in  tattered 
garments,  but  with  large  silver  bracelets  on  her  shriveled 
arms,  came  forward  and  spread  a  rug  or  carpet  for  us.  It 
was  made  of  very  coarse  wool,  and  looked  something  like 
crochet-work,  or  close  knitting,  and  was  evidently  of  Be- 
douin manufacture.  We  were  soon  seated  on  it,  and  the 
sheikh  and  a  number  of  men,  smoking  long  pipes,  took 
their  seats  opposite  to  us,  in  a  half-circle,  on  the  ground 
just  outside  the  open  front  of  the  tent,  thus  completely 
inclosing  us.  There  were  between  sixty  and  seventy  people 
altogether  in  the  encampment.  They  had  large  flocks  of 
sheep  and  goats  under  their  care ;  and,  as  we  anticipated, 
they  were  near  to  a  "  fountain  of  sweet  water." 

The  sheikh  wished  to  have  a  kid  killed  for  us.  We  de- 
clined, as  we  were  in  haste ;  but  though  we  were  provided 
with  bread,  my  brother  explained  to  me  that  etiquette 
obliged  us  to  partake  of  theirs,  and  he  said,  "  Go  and  find 
the  women,  it  will  be  a  good  opportunity  for  you  to  see 
the  process  of  Bedouin  bread-making."  I  went  to  the 
other  end  of  the  encampment — the  glow  of  a  red  fire 
between  the  trees  guided  me.  Two  women  were  skillfully 
stirring  and  spreading  burning  embers  on  the  ground  with 
their  hands,  as  freely  as  if  fire  had  no  power  to  hurt  them. 
Another  was  kneading  some  paste.  The  rest  of  the  women 
and  girls  came  crowding  round  me  caressingly  and  won- 
deringly.  They  stroked  my  face  and  hair,  and  especially 
marveled  at  my  closely-fitting  kid  gloves,  which  I  put 
oflf  and  on  for  their  amusement.  They  exclaimed  re- 
peatedly, "  0,  work  of  God  1"  One  of  the  elder  women  said, 
"Where  are  you  going,  0  my  daughter?"  I  answered, 
«  0  my  mother,  I  am  going  to  '  El  Kuds '  '  The  Holy  "-'— 
that  is,  Jerusalem.     Then  she  said,  as  if  by  way   of  ex- 


BEDOUIN  WOMEN.  219 

planation  to  the  others,  "  They  are  pilgrims.  God  preserve 
them !"  The  women  were  all  of  a  dark-bronze  color.  Their 
faces,  and  arms,  and  necks  were  tattooed  and  stained  with 
henna,  red  and  orange  color.  Their  rather  thick  but  well- 
shaped  lips  were  'perfectly  hlue,  indigo  having  been  carefully 
pricked  into  them  in  little  spots  close  together;  it  produced 
a  very  unpleasing  effect.  The  edges  of  their  eyelids  were 
blackened  with  soot.  Their  only  garments  were  wide, 
loose,  coarse  cotton  shirts,  open  at  the  bosom;  some  were 
black,  others  blue  and  brown.  Over  their  heads  black 
woolen  shawls,  edged  with  bright-colored  stripes,  were 
tastefully  and  simply  worn.  Many  of  the  women  were 
decked  with  clumsily-wrought  silver  bracelets  and  finger 
and  ear-rings.  None  of  them  wore  shoes.  The  dirty, 
tawny  children  were  all  nearly  naked ;  but  their  heads 
were  covered  with  white  quilted  skull-caps  or  red  tar- 
bushes,  to  which  shells  and  beads  were  fastened — amulets 
to  protect  the  wearers  from  harm. 

A  young  mother,  more  intelligent-looking  than  her 
companions,  came  forward  and  saluted  me  gently.  She, 
unlike  the  rest,  wore  a  crimson  shawl  on  her  head,  and 
the  edges  of  her  long  blue  shirt  were  embroidered  round 
the  sleeves  and  round  the  neck  and  bosom  with  coarse 
thread,  wrought  in  quaint  patterns,  such  as  we  see  on 
very  old-fashioned  samplers  in  cross-stitch.  She  proudly 
showed  me  her  little  swaddled  son.  The  complexion  of 
his  face  was  surprisingly  fair;  in  fact,  it  was  of  a  deathly 
whiteness.  This,  I  was  told,  is  usually  the  case  in  infancy 
among  the  Bedouins.  I  took  the  unyielding,  stiffened, 
mummy-like  little  figure  in  my  arms.  His  swaddling- 
clothes  were  of  coarse  indigo-colored  cotton,  bound  round 
symmetrically  with  narrow  strips  of  crimson  leather,  such 
as  I  had  seen  entwined  about  the  Bedouin  spears.  The 
mother  evidently  had  considerable  taste  in  the  arts  of 
adornment,  and  in  every  respect  she  was  superior-looking 
to  the  rest.  In  the  mean  time  the  bread  was  being  made. 
A  brisk  wood-fire  was  kindled  in  the  open  air,  on  a  small 


220  DOMESTIC   LIFE  IN  PALESTINE. 

circular  hearth,  formed  of  smooth  round  pebbles,  spread 
evenly  and  close  together.  When  this  primitive  hearth 
was  sufficiently  heated,  the  embers  were  carefully  removed, 
and  well-kneaded  paste,  flattened  out  by  the  hand,  was 
thrown  on  to  the  hot  stones,  and  quickly  covered  with 
the  burning  ashes.  In  this  way  several  large  cakes  of 
unleavened  bread  were  soon  made  ready. 

I  returned  to  the  tent.  Our  canteen  and  provisions  had 
been  unpacked,  much  to  the  amusement  of  the  men,  who 
were  especially  pleased  with  the  knives,  and  forks,  and 
spoons.  Wooden  bowls  of  cream  and  milk  were  brought, 
and  the  flat  cakes  of  bread  were  served  quite  hot.  They 
were  about  half  an  inch  in  thickness,  and  had  received 
the  impression  of  the  pebbles  of  which  the  hearth  was 
composed.  This  most  likely  was  the  same  sort  of  bread 
which  Sarah  of  old  made  for  the  strangers,  in  obedience 
to  Abraham's  desire,  when  he  said,  "Make  ready  quickly 
three  measures  of  fine  meal,  knead  it,  and  make  cakes 
upon  the  hearth ^ 

The  women  stood  in  a  group  at  a  little  distance  looking 
on  while  we  cut  up  our  cold  roast  chicken.  They  had 
never  seen  people  eat  with  knives  and  forks  before.  It 
must  have  appeared  very  barbarous  to  them.  They  laughed 
shyly,  and  hid  their  faces  with  the  ends  of  their  shawl 
head-dresses  when  they  were  noticed,  and  suddenly  they 
disappeared  altogether,  as  if  in  obedience  to  a  given 
signal.  I  made  a  sketch  of  Kasim,  the  handsomest  and 
most  stately-looking  of  the  men.  He  blushed  like  a  girl 
when  he  saw  his  face  in  my  book.  He  expressed  great 
curiosity  about  our  intended  movements,  and  was  very 
communicative.  The  other  men  asked  no  questions  — 
neither  did  they  seem  willing  to  answer  any,  except  in 
the  usual  words  ^'■Yd,llem  Allah'' — "God  knows." 

After  a  final  cup  of  cofiee  had  been  passed  round  we 
remounted,  and  went  on  our  way  at  about  two  o'clock, 
riding  over  hills  covered  with  wild  thyme,  and  through 
valleys  where  grain  sown  by  the  Bedouins  was  springing 


ON  THE   ROUTE.  221 

up;  but  it  was  thirsting  for  rain.  We  rose  high  on  to 
the  Carmel  range,  overlooking  the  plain  of  Esdraelon,  and 
sometimes  catching  glimpses  of  the  great  sea  on  our  right. 
We  rode  for  a  considerable  distance  without  seeing  any 
towns,  or  villages,  or  even  tents,  or  the  slightest  indication 
of  a  road  or  track ;  so  that  I  could  fancy  that  I  was 
traveling  in  an  uninhabited  country,  except  when  we  saw 
a  long  string  of  camels  laden  with  charcoal,  or  a  line  of 
donkeys  carrying  such  large  burdens  of  thorns  and  brush- 
wood that  they  looked  just  like  hedges  moving  briskly 
along.  They  were  evidently  conveying  fuel  from  a  well- 
wooded  district  to  towns  and  villages  in  the  treeless  plains. 
We  were  in  a  part  of  Palestine  rarely,  if  ever,  trodden 
by  strangers,  where  the  peculiarities  of  Eastern  traveling 
are  more  apparent  than  in  the  more  frequented  roads. 
We  discovered  that  our  guide,  who  had  been  directed  to 
conduct  us  toward  Arrabeh,  had  misled  us,  and  was  taking 
us  by  a  circuitous  and  unmarked  route  in  order  to  avoid 
passing  near  to  certain  villages,  where  his  life  would  have 
been  in  danger,  for  a  price  was  set  upon  his  head  by  his 
enemies  in  that  district.  He  led  us  into  the  fertile  plains 
west  of  the  Carmel  range. 

Rain  began  to  fall  in  torrents.  Mohammed,  our  groom, 
threw  a  large  Arab  cloak  over  me,  saying,  "  May  Allah 
preserve  you,  0  lady,  while  he  is  blessing  the  fields."  Thus 
pleasantly  reminded,  I  could  no  longer  feel  sorry  to  see 
the  pouring  rain,  but  rode  on  rejoicing  for  the  sake  of  the 
sweet  Spring  flowers  and  the  broad  fields  of  wheat  and 
barley. 

For  two  or  three  hours  we  had  not  seen  a  building  of 
any  kind,  not  even  a  ruined  khan  in  a  valley,  nor  a  watch- 
tower  on  the  hill-sides.  At  last  we  passed  a  small  walled 
town,  built  on  a  low  rounded  hill,  the  eastern  slope  of 
which  was  dotted  with  white  grave-stones.  Olive-trees, 
fruit  gardens,  and  plowed  land  encircled  it.  In  a  quarter 
of  an  hour  we  came  to  a  little  village,  where  the  rude 
dwellings  were  crowded  closely  together,  as  if  for  safety, 


222  DOMESTIC   LIFE  IN  PALESTINE. 

and  flocks  and  herds  fed  in  the  neighborhood,  guarded  by 
shepherds  fully  armed.  The  rain  ceased,  and  the  sun  shone 
out  for  a  few  minutes,  with  a  red  glow,  over  a  waving  field 
of  wheat,  and  then  went  down.  We  desired  the  guide  to 
halt  at  the  next  village.  We  rode  on  southward,  and  in 
about  twenty  minutes  reached  a  place  called  "  Khubeizeh," 
on  account  of  the  abundance  of  mallows  growing  wild  in 
the  neighborhood.  A  barricade  of  mud  surrounded  the 
village.  The  houses  were  so  low  that  even  I  could  not 
have  stood  upright  in  any  one  of  them.  Some  were  merely 
hollow  cones  of  earth,  others  were  square  and  roofed  with 
brushwood.  Some  were  like  burrows,  scarcely  above  the 
ground,  and  all  were  desperately  dirty.  The  narrow  streets, 
or  paths  between  the  houses,  were  mud  and  slime  and 
standing  water.  The  wretched-looking  inhabitants  followed 
us  about  or  peeped  at  us  from  their  miserable  abodes,  and 
a  troop  of  dogs  barked  in  loud  chorus  as  we  traversed  the 
village  in  all  directions.  We  found  no  spot  suitable  for  a 
halting-place,  so  we  hastened  onward  and  soon  arrived  at 
Mehaf,  a  crowded  hamlet,  quite  as  uninviting  as  Khubeizeh. 

The  guide  assured  us  that  we  should  find  safe  shelter  at 
Kefr  Kara,  a  Moslem  village  about  three  miles  further 
south.  No  Christians  inhabit  any  of  the  villages  in  this 
district.  We  decided  to  go  on,  although  it  was  already 
very  dark.  Ked,  blinking  watchfires  could  be  seen  here 
and  there  on  the  hills  around,  and  rain  began  to  fall  as  we 
rode  across  the  plain  as  quickly  as  the  darkness  would  let 
us.  We  sent  our  kawass  on  before,  to  announce  our  ap- 
proach to  the  sheikh  of  Kefr  Kara.  When  we  arrived  he 
was  at  the  entrance  of  the  village,  attended  by  a  lantern- 
bearer,  ready  to  receive  us,  and  he  said,  "  Welcome,  and  be 
at  rest,  we  are  your  servants,  all  that  we  have  is  yours." 

We  found  Kefr  Kara  larger  and  rather  superior  to  the 
other  villages.  There  was  only  one  stone  house  in  it,  how- 
ever, and  to  that  we  were  immediately  conducted.  We 
gladly  dismounted  at  the  open  door,  within  which  we  could 
see  the  glow  and  smoke  of  a  large  wood  fire.     I  found  that 


NIGHT  IN  A  MOSLEM  VILLAGE.  223 

the  house  consisted  of  only  one  very  lofty  room,  about 
eighteen  feet  square.  The  roof  of  heavy  beams  and  tree- 
branches,  blackened  with  smoke,  was  supported  by  two 
wide-spreading  arches.  The  walls  were  of  roughly-hewn 
blocks  of  stone,  not  plastered  in  any  way.  Just  within  the 
door,  a  donkey  and  a  yoke  of  oxen  stood.  I  soon  per- 
ceived that  rather  more  than  one-third  of  the  room  was  set 
apart  for  cattle,  where  the  floor,  which  was  on  a  level  with 
the  street,  was  of  earth,  and  partly  strewed  with  fodder. 
We  were  led  up  two  stone  steps  on  to  a  dais,  twenty-two 
inches  high,  where  fragments  of  old  mats  and  carpets  were 
spread,  and  where  three  venerable-looking  old  men — one 
of  whom  was  quite  blind — sat  smoking.  They  rose  and 
welcomed  us,  and  then  resumed  their  pipes  in  silence. 
They  wore  large  white  turbans  and  dark  robes.  Their  long 
beards  were  bushy  and  gray.  Their  feet  were  naked,  for 
they  had  left  their  red  shoes  by  the  steps  leading  on  to  the 
dais.  The  sheikh  took  down  some  mats  and  cushions  from 
a  recess  in  the  wall,  and  arranged  them  for  us  on  the  floor. 
In  the  mean  time,  the  mule  was  led  in  and  unladen,  and 
our  two  horses  were  unsaddled  and  lodged  in  the  lower 
part  of  the  room !  The  sheikh  asked  us  to  allow  his  oxen 
to  remain  there,  as  it  was  likely  to  be  a  wet  night.  My 
brother  consented,  but  desired  that  no  others  should  be 
brought  in,  and  that  shelter  should  be  found  elsewhere  for 
the  horses  of  our  servants  and  attendants.  Nearly  in  the 
middle  of  the  raised  floor,  the  large  fire  made  of  piled-up 
wood  and  "thorns,  and  resinous  evergreen  shrubs,  was  burn- 
ing briskly.  The  deep  troughs,  or  mangers,  about  three 
feet  by  one,  were  hollowed  out  of  the  broad  stone  coping 
at  the  edge  of  the  dais.  Mohammed,  our  groom,  filled 
these  troughs  with  barley,  and  our  tired  animals  enjoyed 
their  evening  meal. 

While  our  supper  was  in  course  of  preparation,  the 
sheikh,  at  my  request,  took  me  to  see  his  wives.  He  led 
me  out  into  the  darkness.  A  little  lantern,  which  he  car- 
ried, partially  lighted  the  muddy  streets,  and  was  reflected 


224  DOMESTIC  LIFE  IN  PALESTINE. 

in  many  a  pool  of  standing  water.  My  guide  paused  in 
front  of  an  irregular  building  of  mud  and  stone,  and,  with- 
out saying  a  word  by  way  of  introduction,  left  me  alone  at 
the  threshold  of  the  wide-open  door.  Just  within  it  I  saw 
a  group  of  harsh-voiced,  loudly-talking  women  standing  in 
front  of  an  immense  wood  fire,  which  was  burning  on  a 
raised  floor,  about  three  feet  high.  They  were  evidently 
entertaining  another  group  of  women,  who  sat  on  the  dais 
round  the  fire,  silently  and  eagerly  listening.  The  leaping 
flames  lighted  up  their  large  dark  eyes,  their  long  glisten- 
ing teeth,  and  the  silver  coins  of  their  head-dresses.  I 
stood  for  a  moment  watching  them,  before  I  claimed  their 
attention.  There  was  no  outlet  for  the  smoke,  except  a 
hole  over  the  door;  so  it  was  rather  difficult,  at  first,  to 
distinguish  the  shape  of  the  room.  There  were  curiously- 
irregular  projections,  and  niches,  and  recesses,  where  mat- 
tresses were  piled  up,  and  jars  and  cooking  utensils  were 
arranged.  The  walls  were  of  baked  mud  or  clay,  black- 
ened with  smoke. 

When  I  announced  myself,  some  of  the  young  girls  ut- 
tered exclamations  of  wonder  and  fear,  imagining  me  to  be 
a  spirit;  but  the  elder  women  silenced  them,  and  welcomed 
me  calmly  and  kindly,  without  showing  any  signs  of  sur- 
prise, though  I  was  afterward  assured  that  I  was  the  first 
Afranji — that  is,  European — lady  who  had  ever  paid  a  visit 
to  Kefr  Kara. 

The  women  who  stood  below  lifted  me  on  to  the  dais, 
the  roof  over  which  was  so  low  that  I  could  only  just  stand 
upright.  I  sat  down  with  the  group  round  the  fire,  and 
took  off"  my  hat  and  hooded  cloak,  and  one  of  the  women 
undertook  to  dry  them.  They  were  all  exceedingly  aston- 
ished that  I  only  kept  my  head  covered  when  out  of  doors — 
heads  are  never  uncovered  in  the  East,  except  as  a  sign  of 
deep  mourning.  The  women  were  dark,  dirty,  and  rather 
haggard-looking,  but  dignified  in  their  manners  and  move- 
ments. The  girls  were  strong  and  handsome,  but  their 
well-shaped  mouths  and  lower  jaws  were  disproportionately 


MOSLEM    VILLAGERS.  225 

large.  They  all  wore  head-dresses  of  silver  coins,  like  the 
women  of  Nazareth,  with  the  addition  of  three  or  seven 
chains  of  silver  links  and  coins,  hanging  from  the  end  of 
the  head-dress  on  each  side,  in  the  same  way  that  unfast- 
ened bonnet-strings  hang.  Their  dresses  were  of  dark 
indigo-colored  cotton,  very  thick  and  coarse,  open  at  the 
front,  like  loose  pelisses,  girdled  and  worn  over  white  shirts 
and  dark  cotton  trowsers.  Their  arms  and  faces  were  tat- 
tooed with  spots  and  stars,  their  eyebrows  were  blackened 
with  a  thick  pigment,  and  their  eyelids  stained  with  soot. 
Many  of  them  wore  silver  bracelets.  The  ragged  and  half- 
naked  tawny  children  were  agile  and  rapid  in  their  move- 
ments, observant,  and  mischievous.  The  young  girls  were 
soon  satisfied  that  I  was  not  a  spirit,  and  they  became  very 
demonstrative  and  caressing,  and  were  full  of  curiosity. 
One  of  them  took  a  flaming  brand  from  the  fire,  and  held 
it  near  to  my  face,  that  she  and  the  rest  might  see  me  more 
plainly.  A  very  old  woman,  who  seemed  to  have  authority 
over  them,  rebuked  them,  saying,  "  Be  silent,  0  foolish 
ones !  if  the  stranger  had  a  hundred  tongues  she  could  not 
answer  all  your  questions ;  and  do  you  not  see  that  the 
poor  child  is  tired  ?  Let  her  rest  in  peace."  Then  they 
made  cofi"ee  for  me ;  and  while  I  was  taking  it,  a  boy,  bet- 
ter dressed  than  the  others,  came  bounding  in,  exclaiming, 
"Where  is  the  white  lady?  The  Afranji  will  not  eat  till 
she  comes."  So  I  rose  and  followed  him  into  the  street, 
where  the  sheikh  awaited  me  with  the  lantern. 

I  returned  to  the  house.  My  brother  had  caused  the 
wood  fire  to  be  removed,  for  the  smoke  almost  sufibcated 
us.  A  small  red-clay  lamp  stood  in  a  niche  in  the  wall, 
and  the  lantern  was  placed  in  a  recess  near  to  the  door. 
Our  supper  of  grilled  chickens,  hot  bread,  and  sweet  cream, 
was  spread  for  us  on  the  floor  of  the  dais.  At  the  same 
time  a  large  wooden  bowl  of  dried  peas  boiled  in  oil,  and 
a  dish  of  lebbany,  or  sour  milk,  and  cakes  of  bread,  were 
brought  for  our  attendants  and  servants,  who  were  grouped 
together  with  the  horses  in  the  lower  part  of  the  room. 


226  DOMESTIC    LIFE  IN  PALESTINE. 

After  we  had  eaten,  a  number  of  the  villagers  came  to  see 
us.  They  all  smoked  their  pipes,  and  drank  their  coffee, 
almost  in  silence,  with  the  exception  of  the  old  blind  man, 
who  asked  many  questions.  He,  as  if  privileged  by  his 
blindness,  begged  me  to  put  my  hand  in  his,  and  then  told 
me  to  tell  him  what  I  was  like,  that  he  might  see  me  in 
his  thoughts.  He  said,  "Are  you  young,  or  are  you  old? 
Your  voice  is  soft,  like  the  voice  of  a,  little  child ;  but  your 
words  are  wise." 

By  degrees  our  silent  guests  left  us.  Last  of  all,  the 
;^-entle  old  blind  man,  led  by  the  sheikh,  went  away,  wish- 
ing us  rest  and  peace.  The  latter  promised  that  he  would 
send  us  some  pillows  and  mattresses  to  sleep  on.  No 
women  had  visited  us. 

Just  as  we  were  wondering  what  sort  of  bedding  we 
should  have  that  night,  to  my  great  surprise  and  delight, 
the  Arab-Jewish  upholsterer,  who  had  worked  for  me  at 
Haifa,  made  his  appearance,  carrying  a  nice  new  mattress, 
quilt,  and  red-silk  pillow.  He  was  a  peddler  upholsterer, 
but  his  head-quarters  were  at  Haifa.  He  had  been  engaged 
at  Kefr  Kara  making  a  stock  of  lehaffs  and  mattresses  for 
an  approaching  wedding.  As  soon  as  he  heard  of  my  ar- 
rival, he  insisted  on  bringing  one  of  the  new  mattresses 
for  me.  He  spread  it  in  a  corner  of  the  dais.  Then  he 
brought  another  for  my  brother,  and  a  third  for  the  French 
Consul's  secretary,  and  did  all  that  he  could  to  make  us 
comfortable. 

I  was  so  tired,  that  I  was  glad  to  lie  down  directly,  on 
the  sheetless  mattress,  resting  my  head  on  the  red-silk  pil- 
low. I  covered  my  face  with  a  handkerchief,  and  tried  to 
forget  where  I  was;  remaining  resolutely  still,  notwith- 
standing the  attacks  of  a  multitude  of  fleas.  I  had  often 
encountered  large  assemblies  of  these  lively  little  tormentors, 
but  their  numbers  were  as  nothing  in  comparison  with  the 
fleas  of  Kefr  Kara. 

A  large  cat,  walking  gently  and  cautiously  over  my  head, 
startled   me  out  of  a  dreamy  and  restless  sleep.     I  roused 


OUR  night's  lodging.  227 

myself  and  looked  about.  It  was  midnight.  The  lamp 
was  still  burning,  and  by  its  dim  light  I  could  make  out 
the  strange  groups  around.  The  first  object  upon  which 
my  eyes  fell  was  the  tall  African  messenger.  He  was  on 
the  opposite  side  of  the  dais,  standing  upright,  leaning  his 
back  against  the  wall.  His  arms  were  folded,  his  eyes 
were  wide  open  and  staring.  He  looked  immovable  as  a 
statue.  His  white  turban,  and  the  shining  light  of  his 
eyes,  made  his  head  appear  the  most  conspicuous  object  in 
the  room.  My  brother  was  soundly  sleeping  on  a  mattress 
not  far  from  me,  and  beyond  him  the  Arab  secretary,  quite 
concealed  under  heavy  quilts,  was  loudly  snoring.  The 
armed  guide  and  our  kawass,  rolled  up  in  their  cloaks  and 
carpets,  were  lying  on  the  edge  of  the  dais,  their  saddle- 
bags and  saddle-cloths  serving  as  pillows.  The  muleteer, 
resting  on  the  luggage,  and  our  groom,  Mohammed,  on  a 
heap  of  fodder,  were  just  below,  with  the  tethered  horses. 
The  air  of  the  room  was  heated  and  oppressive,  and  dense 
with  tobacco  smoke.  There  was  no  window,  but  over  the 
closed  door  there  were  five  small  round  holes.  There  were 
two  deep,  arched  recesses  in  the  walls  for  mattresses,  cush- 
ions, and  jars.  In  a  recess  in  the  lower  part  of  the  room 
the  saddles  and  horse-trappings  of  our  little  party  were 
piled  up.  In  the  stone  wall,  close  to  my  resting-place,  was 
the  trap-door  of  a  corn  granary.  I  could  hear  rats  and 
mice  within,  nibbling  and  scratching,  and  the  gray  cat 
again  and  again  returned  to  post  herself  on  my  pillow. 
I  sat  up.  My  horse  started  out  of  his  sleep,  neighed  and 
shook  himself — walking  as  far  as  his  halter  would  let  him, 
disturbing  the  repose  of  all  the  rest,  and  especially  of  the 
donkey. 

The  groom  rose,  trimmed  the  lamp,  spoke  a  few  com- 
forting words  to  his  favorite  horse,  then  rolled  himself  up 
in  his  camel's-hair  cloak,  and  crouched  down  on  the  heap 
of  fodder.  In  a  little  while  there  was  silence  and  sleep 
all  around  again.  But  I  was  sleepless.  The  mysterious- 
looking  figure  of  the  black  man  completely  fascinated  me; 


228  DOMESTIC  LIFE   IN  PALESTINE. 

I  could  not  long  together  keep  my  eyes  turned  away  from 
him;  he  did  not  move  a  muscle  or  blink  his  great  shining 
eyes.  I  could  not  decide  whether  he  was  asleep  or  awake, 
though  I  looked  at  him  till  I  was  almost  mesmerized.  I 
rested  my  head  on  my  pillow,  full  of  thought.  Suddenly 
the  idea  entered  my  mind  that  it  must  have  been  in  such 
a  house  as  this  that  Christ  was  born,  and  in  a  manger, 
such  as  I  saw  before  me,  that  he  was  cradled.  It  was 
Winter-time  when,  in  obedience  to  the  decree  of  Caesar 
Augustus,  Joseph  the  carpenter,  of  the  house  and  lineage 
of  David,  went  up  from  Galilee,  out  of  the  city  of 
Nazareth,  into  Judea,  unto  the  city  of  David,  which  is 
called  Bethlehem,  to  be  taxed  or  enrolled  with  Mary,  his 
espoused  wife. 

I  imagined  Joseph  anxiously  seeking  shelter  and  rest 
for  her  after  her  long  journey.  All  the  guest-chambers 
were  already  j&lled,  and  there  was  no  room  in  the  inn — 
that  is,  there  was  no  room  for  them  in  the  "house  of  rest 
for  wayfarers" — ^'■the  place  of  unlading."  The  raised  floor 
was  crowded  with  strangers,  who  had,  like  them,  come  to 
be  taxed.  But  Joseph  and  Mary  may  have  taken  refuge 
from  the  cold  in  the  lower  part  of  the  room.  In  imag- 
ination I  could  see  them,  half-hidden  by  the  cattle,  and 
warmed  by  the  blazing  fire  of  wood  and  crackling  thorns 
burning  on  the  raised  floor  close  by.  "And  so  it  was, 
that  while  they  were  there  the  days  were  accomplished 
that  she  should  be  delivered ;  and  she  brought  forth  her 
first-born  Son,  and  wrapped  him  in  swaddling-clothes,  and 
laid  him  in  a  manger."  The  manger  was  very  likely  close 
by  her  side,  hollowed  out  at  the  edge  of  the  dais,  and 
filled  with  soft  Winter  fodder.  I  raised  my  head  and 
looked  at  one  of  the  mangers,  and  I  felt  how  natural  it 
was  to  use  it  as  a  cradle  for  a  newly-born  infant.  Its 
size,  its  shape,  its  soft  bed  of  fodder,  its  nearness  to  the 
warm  fire,  always  burning  on  the  dais  in  mid-winter, 
would  immediately  suggest  the  idea  to  an  Eastern  mother. 
I  fell   asleep,  picturing  to  myself  the  whole  scene — "the 


ARAB   CUSTOM.  229 

babe,  wrapped  in  swaddling-clothes,"  ^^  lying  in  a  manger^'' 
Joseph  and  Mary  joyfully  watching  over  him,  and  the 
strangers  and  shepherds  pronouncing  blessings  and  con- 
gratulations. 

When  I  awoke  in  the  early  morning,  the  level  rays 
of  the  sun  were  streaming  in  at  the  wide-open  door.  The 
black  man  had  gone.  The  Yice-Consul  was  sitting  up 
on  his  mattress,  performing  his  toilet  under  difficulties — ■ 
his  kawass  acting  as  valet.  The  dragoman  beyond  was 
shaking  the  long  purple  silk  tassel  of  his  red  tarbush 
into  shape.  The  horses  and  other  animals  had  been  led 
away;  and  crowds  of  people  stood  at  the  door  looking  in. 
I  kept  quietly  concealed  under  my  quilt  till  my  brother 
and  all  the  men  had  disappeared;  then  some  women  came, 
bringing  water  to  pour  over  my  hands.  At  my  request 
they  closed  the  door,  and  the  five  round  holes  above  it 
admitted  daylight  and  a  number  of  silvery-winged  doves. 
They  came  one  after  the  other,  fluttered  once  round  the 
room  near  to  the  rafters,  and  then  flew  away  again  in 
regular  order.  The  women  were  exceedingly  interested 
with  the  contents  of  my  dressing-case,  and  wished  to  make 
experiments  with  them,  but  to  this  I  decidedly  objected. 
They  had  never  heard  of  such  a  thing  as  a  tooth-brush ; 
yet  their  teeth — which  reminded  me  of  the  teeth  of  wild 
animals,  especially  of  the  feline  race — were  as  bright, 
regular,  and  healthy-looking  as  possible.  Perhaps  one 
of  the  causes  of  this  is,  that  they  invariably  wash  and 
cleanse  their  mouths  thoroughly  immediately  after  every 
meal.*  Almost  all  Orientals  adopt  this  excellent  custom ; 
but  by  the  Moslems  it  is  regarded  as  a  religious  and 
obligatory  ceremony,  and  the  act  is  accompanied  by  an 
ejaculatory  prayer  for  purity.  I  had  necessarily  slept  in 
my  clothes.  I  shook  myself  into  order  as  well  as  I  could, 
and  resumed  my  riding-habit,  while  the  women  rolled  up 
the  mattresses  and  lehaffs,  and  carried  them  away.     Then  I 

*I8  this  custom  indirectly  alluded  to  in  Amos  iv,  6,  where  it  is  written:  "I 
have  given  you  cleanness  of  teeth  and  want  of  bread  in  all  your  places?" 


230  DOMESTIC  LIFE  IN  PALESTINE. 

was  led  to  the  house  which  I  had  visited  on  the  previous 
evening.  The  hostess  wore  a  striped  silk  red  and  purple 
pelisse,  or  open  dress,  instead  of  the  cotton  one  in  which  I 
had  seen  her  before.  She  received  me  very  cordially,  and 
would  not  allow  any  intruders  to  enter,  while  I  had  some 
new  milk,  bread,  and  coffee,  and  made  notes  of  my  night- 
thoughts.  It  was  rumored  that  the  manuscript  book  which 
I  carried  contained  talismanic  directions  for  seeking  treasures. 
It  had  a  patent  lock  and  key,  and  a  book  thus  guarded  had 
never  before  been  seen  there. 

In  the  mean  time,  my  brother  was  breakfasting  with  the 
sheikh  elsewhere,  gleaning  valuable  information,  and  plan- 
ning the  day's  journey.  We  afterward  met  in  the  large 
room — of  which  I  made  a  rough  sketch  and  measurements. 
It  had  been  swept,  and  the  dais  was  garnished  with  reed 
matting  and  cushions,  and  two  old  fringed  carpets,  about 
the  size  of  ordinary  hearth-rugs.  We  sat  down  together, 
and  consulted  our  maps — Kobinson's  and  a  French  one. 
As  regarded  that  district,  they  proved  very  contradictory, 
and  did  not  assist  us  much.* 

At  eight  o'clock,  our  horses  and  attendants  were  ready. 
We  mounted,  and  rode  slowly.  We  were  surrounded  and 
followed  by  a  great  number  of  the  villagers.  The  sheikh 
was  in  earnest  conversation  with  my  brother.  The  old 
blind  man  walked  by  my  side,  with  his  hand  resting  on  the 
neck  of  my  horse,  which  was  carefully  led  by  the  wander- 
ing Jew  upholsterer  along  the  uneven  and  crooked  streets. 
We  paused  when  we  came  to  the  thrashing-floor,  outside 
the  village,  and  there  took  leave  of  our  Kefr  Kara  friends. 
The  blind  man  pressed  my  hand  to  his  lips  and  to  his  fore- 
head, saying,  "  May  Allah  preserve  you,  0  my  daughter, 
and  keep  you  from  all  harm !"  With  blessings  and  pleas- 
ant words  ringing  in  our  ears,  we  cantered  quickly  over  a 
broad  cultivated  plain,  across  a  stony  river-bed,  and  then 

*  Even  on  the  chart  illustrating  Murray's  delightful  Handbook,  Kefr  K&ra  and 
Khubeizeh  are  not  marked.  But  on  a  map  in  the  Weelchj  Dispatch  Allot,  Khubeizeh, 
and  the  villages  in  its  neighborhood,  may  be  found,  and  they  appear  to  me  to  be 
quite  correctly  placed. 


GIPSY  ENCAMPMENT.  231 

rose  on  to  a  range  of  hills,  dark  with  evergreen  oaks,  and 
carpeted  with  wild  flowers.  We  rode  eastward,  overlooking 
plains  and  valleys.  The  black  man  was  still  with  us.  I 
was  informed  that  he  was  an  inveterate  opium-eater,  and 
always  slept  in  a  standing  or  sitting  posture,  with  his  eyes 
wide  open. 

In  half  an  hour,  we  came  to  a  little,  crowded,  mud  and 
stone  village,  at  the  edge  of  a  wood.  Here  we  dismissed 
our  guide,  for  we  could  not  depend  upon  him.  He  had 
enemies  in  the  district,  and  traveled  in  fear.  We  alighted. 
A  carpet  was  spread  for  us  on  a.  grassy  and  shady  slope, 
just  above  a  thrashing-floor,  and  there  we  took  pipes  and 
cofi'ee  with  the  sheikh.  The  elders  and  chief  men  of  the 
village,  in  their  great  camel's-hair  cloaks  and  white  turbans, 
sat  on  the  ground  in  a  half  circle  opposite  to  us.  They 
were  fully  armed.  After  the  usual  greetings  and  compli- 
ments, they  eagerly  asked  for  "  khubber,"  that  is,  news, 
saying,  "Whence  do  you  come,  O  my  lord,  and  what  tid- 
ings do  you  bring?"  They  were  all  very  active  and  ener- 
getic-looking, communicative,  and  inquiring.  They  difiered 
in  these  respects  from  the  Bedouins  we  had  met  in  the 
Valley  of  Salt,  and  from  the  villagers  of  Kefr  Kara. 

I  asked  my  brother  how  this  striking  contrast  could  be 
accounted  for.  He  said,  "  This  valley  is  in  a  very  lonely, 
unprotected,  and  fertile  spot.  It  is  on  the  confines  of  the 
Jebel  Nablus,  a  district  which  is  very  frequently  disturbed, 
as  at  present,  by  civil  war.  The  inhabitants  are  obliged  to 
be  constantly  on  the  alert,  and  prepared  for  any  emergency. 
This,  perhaps,  gives  them  that  look  of  activity  and  intelli- 
gence which  is  common  to  all  people  who  are  habitually 
exposed  to  great  dangers,  and  who  energetically  but  cau' 
tiously  prepare  to  meet  them."  An  animated  exchange 
of  news  took  place.  The  young  men  and  boys  stood  in 
little  groups  around,  while  the  elders  smoked  and  talked 
by  turns. 

Just  beyond  the  village,  there  were  some  ragged  black 
hair  tents  among  the  trees.     They  belonged  to  a  party  of 


232  DOMESTIC   LIFE   IN   PALESTINE. 

gipsy  tinkers  and  blacksmiths,  who  journey  from  village  to 
village,  just  as  their  brethren  do  in  the  lonely  parts  of 
England ;  committing  depredations  in  the  farm-yards,  and 
sometimes  breaking  into  houses.  These  gipsies  came  out 
of  their  tents  to  look  at  us.  Their  complexions  were  very 
dark.  The  'men  had  rather  a  sullen  and  stern  expression 
of  countenance,  and  were  clothed  in  sackcloth,  girdled  with 
leather  straps.  Black  shawls  were  fastened  on  their  heads 
with  ropes  miade  of  camel's-hair,  in  Bedouin  style.  The 
women  and  girls  seemed  hardy,  bold,  and  daring,  but  good- 
natured.  Their  features  were  strongly  marked.  They  ap- 
proached and  examined  me  with  curiosity,  and  expressed 
surprise  that  I  traveled  without  any  female  attendants.  In 
their  greetings  I  observed  that  they  did  not  utter  the  name 
of  Allah,  though  it  is  generally  the  first  word  on  the  lips 
of  an  Arab  woman.  The  women  wore  long,  heavy,  dark, 
ungirdled  shirts,  made  of  coarse  wool — not  unlike  the 
shapeless  gowns  provided  for  female  bathers  at  English 
watering-places.  They  had  no  other  garment,  except  a 
shawl  or  kerchief  tied  over  their  heads,  from  under  which 
their  straggling  unbraided  black  hair  escaped.  Broad  silver 
armlets  adorned  their  tattooed  arms,  and  clumsy  cabalistic 
rings  were  displayed  on  some  of  the  swarthy  hands,  to  pro- 
tect the  wearers  from  harm. 

The  boys  were  naked,  or  nearly  so.  They  tried  to  attract 
my  notice  by  vigorously  turning  summersaults,  walking 
on  their  heads,  and  suspending  themselves  from  high  tree- 
branches  by  their  pliant  feet. 

These  gipsies,  besides  attending  to  their  tinkering,  per- 
form most  astounding  feats  of  jugglery,  gymnastics,  and 
magic.  When  they  visit  towns  or  large  villages,  they  are 
gladly  engaged  by  the  inhabitants  to  tell  fortunes,  inter- 
pret dreams  and  dark  sayings,  and  to  give  entertainments 
in  private  houses  or  in  the  market-places. 

I  have  several  times  seen  companies  of  this  mysterious 
race  of  people  in  Haifa,  and  have  witnessed  their  exhibi- 
tions of  necromancy,  or  rather  sleight-of-hand,  by  torch- 


GYMNASTICS  AND   JUGGLING.  233 

light  in  the  open  air.  Among  other  performances,  they 
call  a  boy  out  of  the  midst  of  the  crowd.  Then,  to  all 
appearance^  they  cut  him  into  six  pieces!  After  a  few 
minutes  of  intense  excitement  and  suspense  of  the  lookers- 
on,  the  separated  portions  of  the  body  are  reunited,  and 
the  restored  boy  jumps  up  and  runs  away.  The  Arabs 
generally,  and  especially  of  the  lower  classes,  firmly  believe 
in  the  occult  power  of  the  gipsies.  They  are  hated  and 
feared,  yet  patronized  and  encouraged  to  a  remarkable  de- 
gree. These  people  speak  Arabic,  but  they  also  have  a 
language  peculiar  to  themselves.  The  late  learned  Dr.  Duff 
told  us  that  the  language  of  the  gipsies  in  India,  of  which 
he  had  made  a  vocabulary,  was  somewhat  similar  to  it,  and 
many  words  were  identical.  These  people  are  very  mis- 
chievous, and  when  they  are  in  the  neighborhood,  it  is 
necessary  to  look  well  after  the  fowls,  lambs,  and  kids,  and 
to  set  a  double  watch  in  the  orchards  and  vineyards,  and 
the  gardens  of  cucumbers. 

The  village  sheikh  provided  us  with  a  guide  to  conduct 
us  to  Arrabeh,  and  we  remounted.  The  gipsy  women  could 
not  understand  how  I  could  ride  with  both  my  feet  on  the 
same  side  of  the  horse.  They  said,  "  The  hills  round  about 
Arrabeh  are  very  steep,  my  lady;  you  will  fall  from  your 
horse  if  you  sit  like  that." 

"We  rode  for  a  short  distance  southward,  with  the  Great 
Sea  now  and  then  visible  on  our  right  hand.  Then  we 
turned  abruptly  eastward,  and  pursued  our  way  for  about 
two  miles  in  single  file,  in  a  narrow  path,  under  the  shade 
of  trees.  The  glossy-leaved  evergreen  oak  and  the  haw- 
thorn were  the  most  conspicuous.  Cyclamen,  ferns,  maze- 
reons,  mosses,  and  lichens  grew  on  and  round  the  rocks  in 
the  deep  shade ;  while  here  and  there  in  sunny  gladea 
wide-open  ranunculi,  anemones,  dandelions,  and  daisies  ap- 
peared. Some  of  the  tree  branches  were  covered  with  gall- 
berries.  We  lingered  to  examine  the  ruins  of  an  ancient 
town,  of  which  no  tradition  even  is  left.  There  were  large 
beveled  blocks  of  stone   foundations  of  walls,  small  tessera?, 

20 


234  DOMESTIC  LIFE   IX    PALESTINE. 

and  other  traces  of  human  art^  extending  for  about  half  a 
mile  along  the  hill-side.  We  did  not  see  any  sculptures  or 
inscriptions.  Our  guide  could  not  tell  us  any  thing  about 
the  place.  He  said  it  was  called  "El  Khirbeh,"  "The 
Ruin."  A  shepherd  whom  we  saw  seated  on  the  edge  or 
parapet  of  an  ancient  cistern  gave  us  the  same  unsatisfac- 
tory answer.  We  descended  into  a  broad  plain,  where 
thorns  and  thistles  flourished.  Lilies  of  the  valley,  the 
first  I  had  seen,  and  a  great  variety  of  the  orchis  tribe 
grew  among  them.  The  gnat  and  bee  orchis  were  beauti- 
fully developed.  Hundreds  of  tiny  birds  were  disturbed 
by  our  approach,  and  flew  out  of 'their  nests  in  the  low 
bushes,  chirruping  and  singing.  We  gathered  wild  thyme, 
and  gladly  ate  it  with  the  bread  which  we  had  brought 
from  Haifa,  for  the  morning  air  had  sharpened  our  appe- 
tites. Lizards  ran  over  the  white  rocks,  and  a  hare  now 
and  then  darted  across  our  path. 

As  we  rode  onward  my  brother  carefully  explained  to  me 
the  difficulties  attending  the  government  of  the  Jebel  Nab- 
lus  district,  which  we  were  then  approaching.  He  said, 
"  The  town  of  Nablus,  the  seat  of  government,  contains 
about  twelve  thousand  inhabitants.  Of  these  only  three 
hundred  are  Christians,  fifty  are  Jews,  and  nearly  two 
hundred  are  Samaritans.  The  rest  are  Moslems  of  the  most 
fierce  and  fanatical  class. 

"  In  the  surrounding  mountains  there  are  four  great  fac- 
tions always  at  enmity  with  each  other.  They  are,  first, 
the  Abdul  Ilady  family,  whose  head-quarters  are  at  Arra- 
beh ;  and,  second,  the  Jerrars,  who  possess  a  fortress  at 
Senur.  They  each  sprang  from  the  peasantry,  and  have  a 
large  number  of  followers  in  almost  every  village  in  the 
district.  Third.  The  Tokan  tribe,  which  has  great  influence 
among  kindred  tribes  in  the  eastern  desert.  Fourth.  The 
Rayan^  who  are  of  Bedouin  origin,  and  very  powerful ; 
they  congregate  west  of  Nablus.  From  one  of  these  great 
rival  factions,  the  governor  of  Nablus  is  generally  chosen, 
and  duly  appointed  by  the  Pasha  of  Jerusalem. 


GOVERNMENT   OF  NABLUS.  235 

"  When  a  governor,  for  some  offense,  or  through  inability 
to  satisfy  the  rapacity  of  the  effendis,  and  other  followers 
of  the  pasha,  is  put  out  of  office,  some  member  of  a  rival 
faction  immediately  repairs  to  head-quarters.  With  large 
sums  of  money,  and  presents,  he  buys  the  good-will  of  the 
pasha's  secretaries  and  chief  councilors,  and  through  their 
mediation  and  influence  succeeds  to  the  governorship.  As 
soon  as  he  is  installed  in  office  he  uses  all  means  in  his 
power,  just  or  unjust,  to  recover  with  interest  the  money 
which  he  had  dispensed  in  bribes.  He  levies  impositions 
on  the  poor  and  unprotected,  and  plunders  with  impunity 
all  who  dare  not  or  can  not  resist  his  power.  It  devolves 
upon  him  to  appoint  the  sheikhs  of  all  the  villages  in  the 
district.  Those  who  were  already  in  office  under  his  pre- 
decessor are  allowed  to  remain  if  they  make  sufficient  and 
appropriate  presents  to  him  at  the  time  of  his  accession. 
If  they  neglect  to  do  this  the  offices  are  given  to  those 
who  make  larger  offers. 

"This  state  of  affairs  has  lasted  for  many  years,  and 
in  the  year  1851  five  hundred  people  were  killed  and  as 
many  wounded  in  a  conflict  between  these  rival  factions. 
The  consequence  was  that  a  decree  was  made  that  none 
of  either  family  should  ever  again  fill  any  important  office 
in  Jebel  NablCis.  But,"  continued  my  brother,  "  this 
decree  has  been  disregarded,  and  the  Abdul  Hady  family 
has  succeeded  in  ingratiating  itself  with  the  Government; 
Mahmoud  Bek  Abdul  Hady  is  chief  Grovernor  of  Nablus; 
his  cousin,  Saleh  Bek — whose  brother,  Mohammed  Bek, 
reigns  at  Arrabeh,  the  stronghold  of  the  family — is  Gov- 
ernor of  H^ifa.  On  account  of  the  present  rebellion  of 
the  people  against  Mahmoud  Bek,  the  chief  Governor, 
Kamil  Pasha  has  encamped  at  Nablus  with  a  large  body 
of  cavalry,  but  he  is  in  great  difficulty.  He  is  surrounded 
by  intriguing  councilors,  who  do  not  scruple  to  take  bribes, 
and  bind  themselves  to  factions.  My  mission  just  now  is 
simply  to  watch  carefully,  and  report  to  Mr.  Finn  all  that 
is  going  on,  and  to  find  out,  if  possible,  the  real  position 


23d  DOMESTIC   LIFE  IN  PALESTINE. 

of  affairs,  without  interfering  or  taking  any  part  in  them. 
In  this  you  may  be  able  to  help  me  a  little  by  quietly 
observing  the  state  of  the  towns;  for  we  shall  probably  be 
apart  from  each  other  in  Arrabeh  and  Senur.  The  fact  of 
your  being  my  fellow-traveler  will  perhaps  induce  people 
to  receive  us  into  their  strongholds  the  more  readily  and 
unsuspectingly." 

Thus  informed,  I  felt  a  greatly-increased  interest  in  the 
expedition.  We  were  still  riding  in  the  plain,  but  thorns 
and  thistles  had  given  place  to  fields  of  wheat  and  barley, 
and  plowed  land.  The  sun  was  shining  overhead,  but 
rain  was  falling  on  the  terraced  hills  before  us,  where 
olive-groves  and  blossoming  fruit-trees  flourished.  As  we 
approached  them  we  felt  the  heavy  drops,  and  were  soon 
in  the  midst  of  a  shower.  We  rode  quickly  through  it, 
and  descended  into  a  narrow  valley,  at  the  end  of  which, 
on  a  rocky  hill,  brightened  by  a  gloam  of  sunshine,  we 
could  see  the  town  of  Arrabeh,  with  its  embattled  walls 
and  towers.  After  a  very  difficult  ascent  over  smooth 
slabs  of  rock  and  loose  stones,  like  a  steep  and  irregular 
/  stairway,  we  reached  Arrabeh.  It  was  past  mid-day,  and 
rain  poured  down  in  torrents  as  we  entered  its  great  iron- 
bound,  well-guarded  gates.  This  is  one  of  the  best-walled 
towns  in  Palestine,  but  is  almost  unknown  to  travelers, 
being  out  of- the  usual  route.  It  is  not  even  mentioned  in 
Murray's  Hand-Book,  but  is  marked  on  his  map. 

The  houses  all  looked  like  small  castles;  they  are  square, 
and  with  parapets  round  their  flat,  terraced  roofs.  We 
went  direct  to  the  residence  of  Mohammed  Bek  Abdul 
Hady,  the  Governor  of  the  town.  His  house,  like  all 
Moslem  town-houses,  was  divided  into  two  distinct  parts; 
the  men  occupying  one  part,  called  the  divan,  and  the 
ladies  living  in  the  other,  which  is  called  the  harem.  The 
ground-floor  was  occupied  by  horses  and  soldiers,  and  there 
our  attendants  and  servants  were  lodged.  We  mounted  an 
uncovered  stone  staircase,  crossed  a  large  court-yard,  and 
entered  the  divan — a  vaulted  chamber,  with  wide,  arched 


THE   HAREM.  237 

windows  on  three  sides,  commanding  views  of  the  valley 
and  the  town-gate.  The  deep,  low  window-seats  were 
cushioned  and  carpeted.  Here  no  ladies  ever  appear;  I 
was  told  afterward  that  I  was  the  only  woman  who  had 
ever  crossed  its  threshold.  We  found  that  the  Governor 
himself  was  absent,  but  we  were  very  courteously  received 
by  his  relations;  and  they  said,  kissing  our  hands,  "This 
house  is  your  house,  and  we  are  at  your  service."  They 
expressed  great  surprise  to  see  us  on  a  journey  while  the 
country  was  so  disturbed.  They  said  that  every  day  there 
were  skirmishes  in  the  neighborhood,  and  at  least  one 
hundred  and  fifty  people  had  been  killed  within  a  few 
days.  Flocks  were  stolen,  and  camels  were  constantly 
waylaid  and  robbed  of  their  burdens.  A  battle  had  been 
fought  on  the  previous  day,  near  to  Arrabeh,  and  many 
lives  were  sacrificed.  The  sons  and  nephews  of  the  Grov- 
ernor  told  us  about  it.  They  were  engaged  in  the  fight. 
One  boy  of  about  sixteen  years  of  age  showed  us  how  he 
threw  himself  on  the  ground  and  pretended  to  be  dead, 
and  thus  escaped  a  death-blow.  He  exhibited  his  spear 
stained  with  blood,  and  his  pistols,  of  which  he  was  very 
proud.     They  were  of  English  manufacture. 

The  younger  sons,  about  ten  and  eleven  years  of  age, 
were  told  to  conduct  me  to  the  harem.  They  carefully 
led  me  over  terraced  roofs,  through  courts,  and  halls,  and 
passages,  till  we  reached  the  female  quarter.  I  was  taken 
to  a  large  vaulted  room,  with  whitewashed  walls  and  stone 
floors,  lighted  only  from  the  wide-open  door;  for,  as  glass 
casements  are  not  used,  the  wooden  window-shutters  were 
closed  to  keep  out  the  rain.  My  young  guides,  Selim 
and  Said,  ran  before  me,  and  cried  out  exultingly,  "An 
English  girl!  an  English  girl!  come!  see!"  I  entered, 
and  in  a  moment  was  surrounded  by  a  little  crowd  of 
women,  dressed  in  very  brilliant  costumes.  They  were  of 
various  complexions — from  the  dark  Abyssinian  slave-girls 
in  crimson  and  silver,  to  the  olive  and  bronze-colored  Arabs 
in  violet  and  gold. 


238  DOMESTIC   LIFE  IN  PALESTINE. 

They  pounced  upon  me  as  if  I  were  a  new  toy  for 
them ;  they  kissed  me  one  after  the  other,  and  stroked 
my  face.  They  had  never  seen  a  European,  and  told  me 
that  no  daughter  of  the  Franks  had  ever  entered  their 
town  before.  They  said,  "Be  welcome,  0  sister  from  a  far 
country;  this  house  is  yours,  and  we  are  your  servants." 
Then  they  asked  me  with  whom,  and  how,  and  whence  I 
had  come.  The  ladies  wore  full,  long  trowsers,  made  of 
colored  silk;  short,  tight  jackets,  made  of  cloth  or  velvet, 
embroidered  with  gold;  and  flowers  and  jewels  in  their 
head-dresses.  The  servants  wore  cotton  suits,  and  the 
slaves  red  cloth.  They  wondered  to  see  my  plain,  long, 
dark  riding-dress  and  hat.  I  told  them  that  I  wished 
to  change  my  clothes,  as  they  were  wet. 

The  boys  went  to  order  my  portmanteau  to  be  brought 
to  the  precincts  of  the  harem,  and  then  two  slaves  fetched 
it.  As  soon  as  I  had  unlocked  it,  the  ladies,  servants,  and 
children,  one  and  all,  began  examining  its  contents.  In 
a  minute  or  two  it  was  actually  almost  empty.  Mantles, 
morning  and  evening- dresses,  night-gowns,  and  collars  were 
passing  from  hand  to  hand;  and,  as  the  uses  of  them  were 
not  known,  they  were  put  on  in  all  sorts  of  fantastic  ways. 
One  of  the  girls  took  a  little  lace-collar,  and  placed  it 
tastefully  on  her  forehead.  She  thought  that  it  was  part 
of  a  head-dress.  I  was  very  much  amused,  but  was 
obliged  to  put  a  stop  to  their  mischief  by  telling  them 
to  put  every  thing  back  into  the  box;  they  did  so  directly. 
I  had  already  discovered  that  Arab  women  are  like  chil- 
dren; they  almost  always  submit  immediately  to  gentle  but 
unhesitating  firmness. 

Then  I  dressed  in  the  same  room;  for  they  said  that 
they  had  not  any  other  for  their  use.  I  fancy  it  was 
because  they  wished  to  see  all  my  clothes,  and  how  I  put 
them  on;  theirs  being  so  very  different  from  ours.  They 
told  me  that  I  wore  too  many  dresses  at  the  same  time. 
They  wear  only  a  shirt  of  thin  cotton  or  crape,  made  high 
to   the   throat,   open   at   the    bosom,   and   with   long,  wide 


SIT  HABIBI.  239 

sleeves;  very  full  trowsers,  drawn  in  and  tied  round  the 
waist  and  below  the  knee,  but  falling  in  graceful  folds 
nearly  to  the  ground ;  and  an  open,  short  jacket,  with  a 
shawl  tied  round  the  waist  like  a  sash  or  girdle.  They 
kindly  sent  away  ray  wet  garments  to  be  dried  at  the 
oven,  and  made  a  comfortable  seat  of  cushions  for  me 
on  the  floor.  One  lady  made  some  sweet  sherbet  of 
pomegranates,  and  handed  it  to  me.  A  second  brought 
me  cofiee  in  a  little  china  cup  without  any  handle,  held 
in  another  one,  exactly  of  the  shape  and  size  of  a  common 
egg-cup,  made  of  prettily-embossed  and  chased  silver. 

Then  Sit  Habibi  sat  by  my  side  smoking  a  nargihle,  and 
in  answer  to  my  questions  she  told  me  that  she  was  the 
eldest  wife  of  Mohammed  Bek,  the  Grovernor  of  Arrabeh, 
and  she  pointed  out  to  me  two  other  ladies  who  were  also 
his  wives.  Then,  at  my  request,  she  introduced  to  me  the 
three  wives  of  Saleh  Bek,  the  Grovernor  of  Haifa.  They 
were  very  much  astonished  when  I  told  them  that  I  knew 
their  husband,  Saleh  Bek,  very  well,  and  brought  messages 
from  him.  They  could  not  understand  it,  as  they  never 
had  heard  of  a  woman  seeing  any  men  except  her  own 
relations.  A  Moslem  lady  may  not  even  see  her  future 
husband  till  the  wedding-day.  One  of  the  wives  asked 
me  rather  suspiciously  if  Saleh  Bek  had  established  a 
harem  at  Haifa.  I  soon  reassured  and  satisfied  them  on 
that  point.  They  all  showed  much  curiosity  respecting 
English  people.  Werdeh,  which  means  rosy,  said,  "Is 
your  brother  handsome  and  strong?  Is  he  fair  to  look 
upon  ?  Are  all  the  people  of  your  country  white  ?" 
And  one  said,  "Why  do  you  travel  about  without  your 
women?" 

While  I  was  answering  these  questions  I  was  taking 
notice  of  the  room.  It  was  rather  low  and  long,  the  floor 
was  nearly  concealed  by  fine  matting.  On  the  side  oppo- 
site to  the  door  a  narrow  mattress  was  spread,  it  was  cov- 
ered with  a  strip  of  soft  carpet,  like  stair-carpeting.  Cush- 
ions  and   pillows   cased   in   Oriental   silks,   placed   on   the 


240  DOMESTIC  LIFE  IN   PALESTINE. 

mattress,  were  leaning  against  the  wall,  and  thus  a  sort  of 
low  sofa  was  formed,  and  on  the  middle  of  this  I  was 
seated,  surrounded  by  the  ladies.  Opposite  to  us  on  each 
side  of  the  door  there  were  similar  seats  or  divans,  where 
several  women  and  girls  were  sitting  smoking.  At  the  end 
of  the  room,  on  my  left  hand,  there  were  two  very  large 
wooden  chests,  painted  bright  red  and  garnished  with  brass 
locks  and  hinges  of  pretty  design.  Behind  them  was  a 
wide,  deep,  arched  recess  in  the  wall,  where  mattresses  and 
wadded  quilts  were  piled  up  one  on  the  other.  Mirrors 
from  Constantinople,  in  gilt  frames,  were  hanging  on  each 
side  of  this  recess.  On  my  right  hand,  at  the  other  end 
of  the  room,  black  slaves  and  servants  sat  on  a  rug,  taking 
care  of  some  infants  and  young  children  who  were  crying 
and  quarreling.  They  were  keeping  up  a  continual  buzzing 
chatter,  and  every  now  and  then  bursting  out  into  little 
shrieks  and  exclamations.  The  floor  of  the  room  was  raised 
about  six  inches  above  the  level  of  the  court  without,  ex- 
cept a  square  space  just  within  the  door,  where  the  women 
put  oflF  their  high  clogs  or  shoes  before  they  entered. 

Werdeh  and  Habibi  sat  by  me,  stroking  my  hair  and 
face  caressingly.  They  wondered  that  I  wore  no  head- 
dress or  ornament  in  my  hair.  The  youngest  wife  of  Saleh 
Bek  of  Haifa,  named  Helweh,  which  signifies  sweetness, 
sat  close  by  the  open  door  in  a  graceful  attitude.  She  was 
only  sixteen,  and  looked  so  pretty,  and  bright,  and  merry, 
that  I  opened  my  sketch-book  and  took  her  portrait. 
When  the  women  saw  what  I  was  doing,  they  were  very 
much  astonished,  for  they  had  never  seen  any  one  draw  a 
face  or  any  thing  else ;  indeed,  it  is  contrary  to  the  law  of 
the  Moslem  religion  to  do  so.  They  cried  out,  "  0  work 
of  Allah !  There  is  the  face  of  Helweh !  There  are  her 
eyes  looking  at  us,  and  there  is  the  coin  of  gold  on  her 
neck,  and  her  hand  holds  the  narghil6.  0,  wonderful !" 
Then  Helweh  came  shyly  to  see  the  drawing,  and  she  asked 
me  if  I  drew  her  because  she  was  the  prettiest.  I  told  her 
that  I  should  like  to  draw  any  one  who  would  sit  near  to 


HELWEH,   THE  YOUNGEST  WIFE.  241 

the  door,  where  the  sunlight  was  streaming  in.  Then  the 
others  took  the  same  seat  in  turn,  and  I  made  two  more 
sketches,  but  Helweh  was  by  far  the  prettiest.  She  had  a 
sweet  voice,  which  is  rather  unusual  among  Arab  women, 
and  was  simple  and  frank  in  her  manners.  She  wore  yel- 
low silk  trowsers,  ornamented  at  the  sides  with  black  silk 
braid.  Her  yellow  pointed  slippers  were  turned  up  at  the 
toes.  She  wore  no  stockings.  Her  black  velvet  jacket  was 
embroidered  beautifully  with  gold  thread,  and  a  purple,  red, 
and  green  shawl,  twisted  round  her  waist  rather  low,  served 
for  a  girdle.  A  wide  collar  of  gold  coins  encircled  her 
throat,  and  a  little,  shallow,  red  cloth  cap  was  arranged 
coquettishly  on  one  side  of  her  well-shaped  head.  A  long 
tassel,  springing  from  perforated  gold  balls,  hung  from  it. 
Her  hair,  intertwined  with  silk  braid,  was  divided  into  nine 
plaits  and  fell  straight  over  her  shoulders.  Little  jewels 
and  pearls  were  fastened  to  it.  Kound  her  head,  over  her 
red  cloth  cap,  or  tarbush,  she  wore  strings  of  pearls  and 
coins  and  diamond  and  emerald  sprays,  and  little  bunches 
of  red,  yellow,  and  violet  everlasting  flowers,  which  grow 
wild  on  the  hills  in  Palestine.  She  had  large,  dark  eyes. 
The  eyebrows  were  painted  thickly,  and  the  eyelids  edged 
with  kohl.  She  had  spots  of  blue  dye  on  her  chest  and 
on  her  chin,  and  a  blue  star  tattooed  on  her  forehead.  The 
women  were  all  thus  ornamented,  more  or  less,  and  they 
very  much  wished  to  paint  and  tattoo  me  in  the  same  way. 
I  wrote  down  in  my  book  the  names  of  all  the  women 
and  their  children  and  servants  in  Arabic,  and  a  descrip- 
tion of  their  dresses  in  English.  I  found  that  Helweh  was 
born  at  Kefr  Kara,  and  she  told  me  how  all  the  villages 
near  to  it  were  called.  I  explained  the  use  of  my  map,  and 
how  by  looking  at  it  I  could  tell  the  direction  of  Senur 
and  other  towns.  Then  they  cried  out  more  and  more, 
"  0  work  of  God !"  for  they  had  never  heard  that  it  was 
possible  for  a  woman  to  learn  to  read  or  write.  They  knew 
that  men  could  do  so,  and  their  own  sons  went  to  a  day- 
school  at  the  Mosque,  where  a  learned  dervish  taught  them 

21 


242  DOMESTIC   LIFE   IN   PALESTINE. 

to  intone  the  Koran  and  to  write  a  little.  But  the  women 
believed  that  boys  possessed  some  peculiar  faculty  which 
enabled  them  to  study  and  to  understand  the  mystery  of 
unspoken  words.  Even  Selim  and  Said,  my  little  guides, 
were  surprised,  and  said,  "  Mashallah !  the  stranger  knows 
the  writing  of  our  language." 

At  about  three  o'clock,  which  they  call  the  ninth  hour, 
some  black  women,  almost  hidden  in  white  sheets,  brought 
in  dinner.  The  first  woman  carried  a  little  low  wooden 
stand,  inlaid  with  ivory  and  mother-of-pearl.  She  put  it 
down  on  the  floor  opposite  to  me.  Then  another  woman 
placed  on  it  an  old,  round,  heavy  metal  tray,  engraved  with 
sentences  in  Arabic  from  the  Koran.  A  large  towel,  em- 
broidered with  gold  thread,  was  handed  to  me.  After  these 
preparations  I  was  glad  to  see  something  to  eat,  for  I  was 
very  hungry.  The  tray  was  soon  quite  covered  with  the 
following  dishes:  a  small  metal  dish  of  fried  eggs — a 
wooden  bowl  of  lebbany,  or  sour  milk — a  bowl  of  sweet 
cream  made  of  goat's  milk — a  dish  of  very  stiff  starch,  like 
hlanc  mange^  sweetened  with  rose-leaf  candy,  with  almonds 
and  pistachio  nuts  chopped  up  in  it — a  large  dish  of  rice 
boiled  in  butter,  with  little  pieces  of  fried  mutton  all  over 
the  top — and  a  plate  of  walnuts,  dried  fruits,  sugared  al- 
monds and  lemon-peel. 

A  black  slave  girl,  with  short  scarlet  cloth  trowsers  and 
scarlet  jacket,  silver  necklace,  armlets  and  anklets,  stood 
by  me,  holding  a  silver  saucer  in  her  hand,  filled  with 
water,  ready  for  me  to  drink  whenever  I  wished  for  it. 
There  was  not  a  knife  nor  even  a  spoon  to  be  seen,  and  I 
could  find  no  plate  foT  my  especial  use.  I  washed  my 
hands  and  was  invited  to  take  up  the  food  from  any  of 
the  dishes,  with  a  piece  of  a  large  flat  loaf,  very  much  like 
leather.  They  soon  perceived  that  I  was  not  much  accus- 
tomed to  that  mode  of  eating,  so  they  brought  me  a  large 
wooden  cooking  spoon,  at  which  the  little  ones  laughed 
heartily.  I  wished  the  ladies  to  eat  with  me,  but  they 
would  not.     They  allowed  Selim  and  Said  to  do  so,  how- 


SMOKING  PIPES.  243 

ever,  and  they  soon  twisted  their  flat  loaves  into  the  shape 
of  spoons,  and  helped  themselves  to  milk  and  eggs,  hut  the 
meat  and  rice  they  took  up  neatly  in  their  hands.  The 
ladies  stood  round  all  the  while,  to  see  that  I  had  every 
thing  I  required. 

When  I  had  eaten,  the  tray  was  moved  into  the  middle 
of  the  room,  and  a  large  metal  hasin  with  a  perforated 
cover  was  placed  before  me.  On  the  top  of  it  was  a  cake 
of  native  soap — stamped  with  a  sign  commonly  called 
"  Solomon's  seal " — and  as  I  rubbed  my  hands  with  it, 
water  was  poured  over  them,  from  a  curious  silver  jug, 
something  like  an  old-fashioned  coflee-pot,  with  a  long, 
thin,  curved  spout.  One  continuous  stream  ran  over  my 
hands,  and  disappeared  through  the  cover  of  the  basin. 
The  embroidered  towel  was  handed  to  me  again,  with  some 
water  to  rinse  my  mouth. 

The  three  wives  of  the  Governor  and  the  three  wives  of 
his  brother  Saleh  Bek,  with  their  children,  then  sat  down 
on  the  matted  floor  round  the  tray,  and  dipping  their  hands 
together  into  the  various  dishes,  they  soon  finished  the  sim- 
ple meal.  Two  or  three  more  dishes  of  rice  were  brought 
in.  Each  woman  rose  as  soon  as  she  was  satisfied,  had 
water  poured  over  her  hands,  and  washed  her  mouth. 
Afterward  strong  coff'ee  without  milk  or  sugar  was  passed 
round.  The  servants  and  slaves  then  assembled  at  the 
tray,  and  ate  with  astonishing  speed  and  voracity,  and 
quickly  all  traces  of  dinner  were  cleared  away. 

Chibouques — pipes  with  red  earthenware  bowls  and  long 
tubes  made  of  cherry-stick  or  jasmine,  with  ebony  mouth- 
pieces— were  handed  to  the  elderly  ladies,  and  two  or  three 
narghiles  to  the  others,  who  took  them  in  turn.  After 
Helweh  had  smoked  for  a  few  minutes,  she  inclined  her 
head  gracefully,  placed  one  hand  on  her  bosom,  touched 
her  forehead  with  the  pliant  tube,  and  then  handed  it  to 
the  lady  sitting  next  to  her,  who  happened  to  be  the  second 
wife  of  her  own  husband,  Saleh  Bek.  Thus  it  was  trans- 
ferred  from    one    smoker   to    another,   even  to  the  hand- 


244  DOMESTIC  LIFE  IN  PALESTINE. 

maidens,  with  the  words,  "May  it  give  you  pleasure  I" 
This  ceremonious  politeness  is  strictly  observed  among  the 
Moslems,  even  between  the  nearest  relations.  The  pre- 
scribed forms  of  greeting  in  habitual  use  appear  to  me  to 
have  the  effect  of  keeping  comparative  peace  and  harmony 
in  the  harems. 

A  very  beautiful  narghil6  was  prepared  especially  for  me. 
It  was  at  least  half  a  yard  high.  The  glass  vase  or  bottle 
was  clear  as  crystal,  and  well  cut.  It  was  filled  with  water, 
in  which  rose-leaves  were  floating.  At  the  top  of  the 
long -necked  vase  was  a  well-chased  solid  silver  bowl,  hold- 
ing the  burning  charcoal  and  Persian  tumbac.  The  pliable 
gnake-like  tube  or  hose  connected  with  it  was  covered 
with  red  velvet  and  bound  with  gold  wire.  It  was  about 
four  yards  long.  The  mouthpiece  was  of  amber,  set  with 
rubies  and  turquoise.  The  smoke  passed  through  the 
water,  bubbling  and  disturbing  the  red-rose  leaves,  and  then 
traveled  up  the  long  tube.  Thus  the  fragrant  fumes  of  the 
tumbac  were  cooled  and  purified  before  they  reached  my  lips. 

I  observed  that  there  was  a  little  whispering  and  con- 
sultation going  on  among  the  women,  and  then  Helweh 
came  and  sat  by  me  and  said,  "Are  you  married?"  I  said, 
"  No,"  and  they  answered,  "  Why  then  have  you  left  your 
father  and  mother?  are  they  not  kind  to  you?"  I  told 
them  how  good  they  were,  and  how  my  mother  taught  me 
to  speak  and  read  and  write  my  own  language,  and  the  lan- 
guages of  other  people.  I  tried  to  make  them  understand 
how  English  parents  educate  their  children. 

Werdeh  said,  "It  is  much  better  to  marry  and  to  stay 
at  home  than  to  travel  about  the  country.  The  dangers  are 
great  now  in  this  time  of  war,  and  the  women  should  stay 
at  home." 

Sit  Sara  said,  "  Werdeh  has  spoken  wisely.  Why  do  you 
not  marry?" 

I  answered,  "  Ya  sitta,  there  are  no  men  of  my  country 
here.     How  can  I  marry?" 

Ssira  then  said,  "  You  speak  our  language  like  a  stranger, 


SONGS   OP  REJOICING.  245 

but  you  speak  it  sweetly.  An  Arab  would  take  you.  Why 
do  you  not  marry  an  Arab?" 

I  replied — very  much  amused — "My  mother  is  not  here 
to  find  a  husband  for  me.  How  can  I  marry?"  I  thought 
that  this  answer  would  settle  the  question  at  once  in  their 
estimation ;  but  Sit  Sara  said,  "  I  will  be  your  mother,  and 
bring  you  to  a  husband.  My  brother  is  a  Cadi,  a  great 
Judge  of  Nablus.  He  looks  for  a  wife.  He  has  only  three. 
He  will  love  you  because  you  are  white." 

I  answered,  laughingly,  "Thank  you,  0  my  mother!  what 
preparations  must  I  make,  and  when  must  I  be  ready?" 

Sit  Sara  considered  for  a  moment,  and  then  said,  "How 
many  camels  has  your  father  got?" 

I  replied,  "  My  father  has  no  camels.  In  my  country 
there  are  only  three  or  four  living  camels  kept  as  curiosi- 
ties, in  a  house  in  a  beautiful  garden,  with  servants  to 
watch  over  them  and  take  care  of  them.  We  have  a  few 
stuffed  camels  also,  in  a  large  glass  house."  At  this  they 
all  laughed  loudly,  and  cried,  "0  most  marvelous!" 

Sara  continued,  "Are  your  father's  olive-trees  new  and 
fruitful?"  "My  father  has  no  olive-trees."  At  this  they 
were  still  more  surprised.  Sara  said,  "Your  father  has 
gold.  He  will  give  you  of  his  gold,  and  precious  stones, 
and  a  red  box,  full  of  clothes  and  towels,  some  silk  cush- 
ions, a  red  wooden  cradle,  and  much  soap.  My  brother 
has  great  wealth,  and  he  will  give  camels  to  your  father 
for  your  portion,  and  gold  coins." 

I  found  that  they  thought  that  I  was  in  earnest.  They 
all  clapped  their  hands,  and  one  of  the  women  sang  a  song 
of  rejoicing,  thus : 

0  Lady  Miriam,  child  of  a  far-off  land 

Dwell  with  us  and  we  shall  have  joy ! 

You  shall  be  cherished  above  all  the  women 

In  the  house  of  my  brother ! 

You  shall  be  his  queen  and  his  chief  delight ! 

For  your  face  is  like  the  moon, 

And  your  words  are  precious  as  pearls ! 

0  Lady  Miriam,  child  of  a  far-off  land. 

Dwell  with  us  and  we  shall  have  joy  1" 


246  DOMESTIC  LIFE  IN  PALESTINE. 

Then  all  the  women  rose  and  stood  in  a  circle,  forming 
a  chain  by  slipping  their  hands  into  each  other's  girdles. 
They  first  moved  slowly  and  gently  round,  in  a  measured 
step  and  to  a  monotonous  tune,  which  they  sang,  while 
the  servants  and  children,  seated  on  the  floor,  were  beating 
time  by  clapping  their  hands.     They  sang  thus : 

"  Let  us  dance ;  let  us  sing ; 

He  is  looking  from  the  lattice. 
He  will  throw  to  us  showers  of  silver ; 
He  will  throw  to  us  showers  of  gold  ! 

Let  us  dance,  let  us  sing : 

Faster,  faster ;  louder,  louder ! 
Let  him  hear  our  mingling  voices ; 
Let  him  hear  our  twinkling  footsteps. 

Let  us  dance,  let  us  sing  ; 

Faster,  faster ;  louder,  louder ! 
He  will  throw  to  us  showers  of  silver ; 
He  will  throw  to  us  showers  of  gold  1" 

They  sang  this  over  and  over  again,  and  the  dance  grad- 
ually quickened  till  it  became  very  animated,  but  the 
dancers  always  kept  in  step.  At  last  they  sat  down  quite 
tired.  While  they  rested  I  told  them  how  I  passed  my 
time  at  Haifa,  and  I  tried  to  give  them  an  idea  of  my  home 
in  London,  and  how  it  was  quite  possible  to  live  there, 
without  camels  or  olive-trees.  They  asked  me  if  the  people 
ever  danced  in  England.  They  were  very  much  shocked 
when  they  heard  that  men  and  women  danced  at  the  same 
time  and  together. 

At  sunset  little  Selim  told  me  my  brother  wished  to  speak 
to  me.  He  led  me  to  him.  He  was  in  the  vaulted  cham- 
ber, with  several  Effendis  and  Moslem  gentlemen,  who 
asked  me  if  I  did  not  feel  afraid  to  travel  in  a  country 
where  the  people  were  fighting  and  plundering  each  other. 
I  said,  "  I  am  not  afraid,  your  excellencies,  for  I  have  found 
that  all  in  this  land  are  kind  to  the  stranger."  Then  they 
said,  "May  Allah  make  a  straight  path  for  you!" 

Supper  was  brought  into  the  divan  for  the  gentlemen,  so 
I  returned  to  the  harem.  It  was  cheerfully  brightened  by 
little  red  clay  lamps,  placed  in  niches  in  the  walls,  and  a 
large   lantern   stood  on   a  low  stool  in  the  middle  of  the 


EXPLAINING   ENGLISH   CUSTOMS.  247 

room.  The  women  were  wondering  how  I  could  dare  to  go 
to  the  men's  quarter  of  the  house.  I  explained  to  them 
that  it  was  the  custom  in  England  for  men  and  women  to 
meet  together  constantly,  and  that  we  walked,  or  rode,  or 
drove  abroad  unvailed.  They  were  exceedingly  surprised. 
I  added,  "We  are  governed  by  a  Sultana,  named  'Nassi- 
rah,'  (Victoria,)  a  lady  so  much  loved  and  respected  by  her 
subjects,  that  when  she  appears  in  the  streets,  or  public 
places,  the  people  cry  aloud  for  joy,  and  shout,  'God  save 
the  Sultana!'  Then  her  face  is  bright  with  pleasure,  and 
she  looks  graciously  around,  bowing  her  head  to  rich  and 
to  poor  alike.  And  on  certain  days  the  nobles,  and  the 
learned  men  and  her  officers,  are  allowed  to  kiss  her  hand." 
They  cried,  "0  most  wonderful!"  and  Sara  said,  "Is  your 
Sultana  a  girl?"  I  answered,  "No,  she  is  married,  but  the 
Prince,  her  husband,  takes  no  part  in  the  government."  A 
sudden  light  seemed  to  break  in  upon  them,  and  I  found 
that  I  had  unwittingly  given  them  the  idea  that  the  women 
of  England  rule  and  take  the  lead  in  every  thing,  and  are 
superior  to  the  men.  I  could  not  entirely  remove  this  im- 
pression, for  they  said,  "  Your  Sultana  could  not  keep  the 
scepter  in  her  hand,  if  she  were  not  stronger  and  wiser 
than  the  men."  One  of  the  women  said,  "Can  your  brother, 
the  Consul,  write?"  I  tried  to  give  them  a  more  favorable 
opinion  of  my  countrymen,  but  I  do  not  think  I  succeeded 
very  well,  for  they  still  seemed  to  fancy  that  women  were 
their  superiors. 

Supper  was  brought  for  me  in  the  same  order  as  dinner, 
except  that  we  had,  in  addition,  a  large  dish  filled  with 
little  green  sausages.  They  were  made  of  minced  meat 
and  rice,  rolled  up  in  leaves,  dressed  in  butter.  They 
were  very  nice.  Asme,  a  beautiful  girl  about  eight  years 
of  age — the  eldest  daughter  of  Saleh  Bek — and  Selim,  ate 
with  me.  The  ladies  stood  in  attendance.  I  described 
how  English  people  sit  on  chairs,  round  a  high  table, 
and  eat  from  separate  plates,  using  knives,  and  forks, 
and  spoons;  and  how  men  and  women  eat  together.     They 


248  DOMESTIC    LIFE   IN  PALESTINE. 

cried  out,  "0,  wonderfull"  For  they  had  never  heard  of 
a  woman  eating  in  the  presence  of  a  man — not  even  with 
her  husband  or  father. 

After  supper  they  talked  about  the  war.  They  told 
me  how  much  they  feared  for  their  two  eldest  sons,  who, 
though  only  fifteen  or  sixteen,  went  constantly  to  engage 
in  the  skirmishes  in  the  mountains.  These  boys  had 
often  been  slightly  wounded,  and  every  day  their  mothers 
expected  to  hear  of  one  of  them  being  killed.  Then  they 
sang  a  song  about  the  Governor,  Mohammed  Bek,  who  was 
absent  from  Arrabeh,  and  they  sang  thus: 

"  May  our  enemies  perish  before  him ; 
May  the  arm  of  our  prince  bo  strong ; 
May  he  be  mighty  in  the  battle-field ; 
May  his  enemies  perish  before  him : 
That  our  shepherds  may  pasture 

Their  flocks  in  peace, 
And  our  camels  carry 
'  Their  burdens  in  safety 

May  our  enemies  perish  before  our  prince, 

Our  prince  and  our  protector! 
May  he  return  to  us  with  joy, 

With  great  joy,  and  as  a  conqueror! 
And  all  the  dwellers  in  the  mountains 
Shall  tremble  before  him  1"* 

Then  the  black  slaves  danced,  each  one  standing  alone, 
a  little  apart  from  the  others.  They  moved  their  arms 
above  their  heads  slowly  and  gracefully,  bending  the  body 
forward  gradually;  then  suddenly  they  raised  their  heads, 
and  rose  to  their  extreme  hight,  with  their  hands  high. 
Their  limbs  seemed  very  supple  and  pliant,  and  I  think 
they  enjoyed  dancing  very  much;  but  it  was  not  a  pretty 
or  lively  dance.  They  sang  about  a  beautiful  Bedawi  girl 
with  teeth  like  lightning.  I  sang  English  songs  at  their 
request,  and  showed  them  a  few  of  the  measures  and 
figures  of  our  Western  dances.     They  were  most  pleased 

*  Arab  songs  are  very  difficult  for  foreigners  to  understand.  I  could  make  out 
little  more  than  the  subject  and  spirit  of  the  above  while  the  women  were  singing 
them.  Helweh,  at  my  request,  explained  the  words  in  simple  language,  assisted 
by  signs;  and  a  year  afterward,  when  she  was  my  neighbor  at  Hfi,ifa,  she  helped 
me  to  understand  them  sufficiently  to  enable  mo  thus  to  render  them  into  £nglish. 


A  MOTHER  AND  HER  INEANT  SON.  249 

with  the  Spanish  waltz,  which  I  danced  slowly,  with 
imaginary  partners.  They  clapped  their  hands,  beating 
time  while  I  sang. 

After  this  I  was  very  tired,  and  I  asked  Sit  Sara  to 
let  me  sleep.  She  said,  "Let  us  walk  out  on  the  terrace. 
The  rain  is  over;  the  stars  are  shining.  Let  us  walk  out, 
0  my  daughter !  and  the  room  shall  he  made  ready." 
So  we  strolled  on  the  terrace  of  the  harem  with  Helweh. 
There  were  red  watch-fires  on  the  hills  around.  By  look- 
ing through  the  round  holes  in  the  parapets  we  could 
see  people  in  the  streets  below  us,  with  servants  carrying 
lanterns  before  them.  Bright  stars  shone  in  the  deep- 
purple  night  sky. 

I  was  led  across  the  court  into  a  square  room,  and  intro- 
duced to  the  fourth  and  youngest  wife  of  the  Governor 
of  Arrabeh.  I  had  not  even  heard  of  her  before.  She 
was  surrounded  by  her  women  and  attendants,  and  was 
sitting  on  a  mattress  propped  up  by  pillows  and  cushions, 
and  partly  covered  by  a  silk  embroidered  lehaff.  Her 
head-dress  was  adorned  with  jewels,  and  roses,  and  ever- 
lasting flowers;  and  her  violet  velvet  jacket  was  richly 
embroidered.  Her  cheeks  were  highly  rouged,  and  her 
eyebrows  painted.  Her  eyelids  were  newly  dressed  with 
kohl  and  her  hands  with  henna.  She  lifted  a  little  swad- 
dled figure  from  under  some  heavy  coverings,  and  handed 
it  to  me.  It  was  her  first-born  son;  he  was  seven  days 
old,  and  his  father  had  not  yet  seen  him.  The  mother 
had  hoped  and  prepared  for  the  pleasure  of  placing  her 
boy  in  his  arms  that  night,  but  he  had  not  returned  to 
Arrabeh.  A  week  is  usually  allowed  to  elapse  before  a 
Moslem  father  sees  his  new-born  child  or  its  mother,  and 
the  eighth  day  is  generally  kept  as  a  day  of  rejoicing  and 
congratulation.  Professional  singing  women  are  hired  for 
the  occasion. 

Coffee  was  made  for  me,  and  a  narghile  prepared ;  but  I 
did  not  linger  long  with  the  young  Moslem  mother  and  her 
infant  son,  for  the  room  was  so  overheated  that  I  could 


250  DOMESTIC  LIFE  IN  PALESTINE. 

scarcely  breathe.  A  large  open  brazier,  filled  with  glowing 
charcoal,  stood  near  the  door,  and  the  air  and  every  thing 
in  the  place  seemed  to  be  impregnated  with  an  oppressive 
odor  of  musk.  Even  the  coffee  and  the  fumes  of  the  nar- 
ghile were  strongly  flavored  with  it.  I  was  very  glad  to 
be  in  the  fresh  air  again  on  the  starlit  terrace. 

When  we  went  back  into  the  large  room,  I  found  that  it 
had  been  nicely  swept.  In  one  corner,  five  mattresses  were 
placed,  one  on  the  top  of  the  other,  with  a  red  silk  pillow, 
and  a  silk  embroidered  wadded  quilt,  lined  with  calico,  ar- 
ranged nicely  as  a  bed  for  me.  I  rejoiced  inwardly,  think- 
ing that  I  was  to  have  the  room  to  myself.  But  very  soon 
I  was  undeceived,  for  seven  other  beds  were  spread  on  the 
floor,  each  formed  of  a  single  mattress  only,  with  a  quilted 
coverlid  and  pillow.  (If  a  Moslem  wishes  to  pay  great 
honor  to  a  guest,  several  mattresses  are  piled  up  for  him 
or  her  to  sleep  upon,  and  these  gradations  of  respect  are 
curiously  observed.  Five  is  rather  a  high  figure,  but  I 
have  known  my  brother   to   have   seven   spread  for  him.) 

I  found  that  all  the  ladies,  and  children,  and  servants, 
and  slaves,  were  to  sleep  in  the  same  room  with  me !  Two 
narrow  hammocks,  each  about  a  yard  long,  were  taken 
from  a  recess,  and,  fastened  to  ropes,  suspended  from  iron 
rings  in  the  ceiling.  The  hammocks  were  oblong  frames, 
made  of  the  strong  stems  of  palm  fronds,  with  coarse  can- 
vas stretched  over  them.  To  these,  two  swaddled  and 
screaming  children  were  securely  bound.  Ropes,  made  of 
palm-fiber,  were  fastened  to  the  corners,  and  united  and 
plaited  together,  about  one  yard  above,  and  then  fixed  to 
strong  ropes  hanging  from  the  ceiling.  The  four  corner 
ropes  formed  a  tent-like  frame-work  to  support  a  piece  of 
muslin  for  a  musketo  curtain. 

When  I  began  to  undress,  the  women  watched  me  with 
curiosity,  and  when  I  put  on  my  nightgown  they  were 
exceedingly  astonished,  and  exclaimed,  *'  Where  are  you 
going?  What  are  you  going  to  do?"  and,  "Why  is  your 
dress  white?" 


evenhjg  prayer.  251 

They  made  no  change  in  their  dress  for  sleeping,  and 
there  they  were,  in  their  bright-colored  clothes,  ready  for 
bed  in  a  minute.  But  they  stood  round  me  till  I  said, 
"  Good-night !"  They  all  kissed  me,  wishing  me  good 
dreams.  Then  I  kneeled  down,  and  presently,  without 
speaking  to  them  again,  I  got  into  bed,  and  turned  my  face 
toward  the  wall,  thinking  over  the  strange  day  I  had  spent. 
I  tried  to  compose  myself  for  sleep,  though  I  heard  the 
women  whispering  together. 

When  my  head  had  rested  for  about  five  minutes  on  the 
soft  red  silk  pillow,  I  felt  a  hand  stroking  my  forehead,  and 
heard  a  voice  saying,  very  gently,  "  Ya  Habibi !"  that  is, 
"  0  beloved !"  But  I  would  not  answer  directly,  as  I  did 
not  wish  to  be  roused  unnecessarily.  I  waited  for  a  little 
while,  and  my  face  was  touched  again.  I  felt  a  kiss  on  my 
forehead,  and  the  voice  said,  "  Miriam,  speak  to  us.  Speak, 
Miriam,  darling !"  I  could  not  resist  any  longer,  so  I 
turned  round  and  saw  Helweh,  Saleh  Bek's  prettiest  wife, 
leaning  over  me.  I  said,  "  What  is  it,  Sweetness  ?  what 
can  I  do  for  you?"  She  answered,  "What  did  you  do 
just  now,  when  you  kneeled  down  and  covered  your  face 
with  your  hands?"  I  sat  up,  and  said  very  solemnly,  "I 
spoke  to  God,  Helweh!"  "What  did  you  say  to  him?" 
said  Helweh.  I  replied,  "I  wish  to  sleep.  God  never 
sleeps.  I  have  asked  him  to  watch  over  me,  and  that  I  may 
fall  asleep,  remembering  that  he  never  sleeps,  and  wake  up 
remembering  his  presence.  I  am  very  weak,  God  is  all- 
powerful.  I  have  asked  him  to  strengthen  me  with  his 
strength." 

By  this  time  all  the  ladies  were  sitting  round  me  on 
my  bed,  and  the  slaves  came  and  stood  near.  I  told 
them  that  I  did  not  know  their  language  well  enough 
to  explain  to  them  all  I  had  thought  and  said.  But, 
as  I  had  learned  the  Lord's  Prayer  by  heart  in  Arabic, 
I  repeated  it  to  them,  sentence  by  sentence,  slowly.  When 
I  began  thus,  "Our  Father  who  art  in  heaven,"  Helweh 
directly    said,    "  You    told    me    that    your    father   was    in 


252  DOMESTIC  LIFE  IN  PALESTINE. 

London."  I  replied,  "I  have  two  fathers,  Helweh:  one 
in  London,  who  does  not  know  that  I  am  here,  and  can 
not  know  till  I  write  and  tell  him;  and  a  Heavenly- 
Father,  who  is  with  me  always — who  is  here  now,  and 
Bees  and  hears  us.  He  is  your  Father  also.  He  teaches 
us  to  know  good  from  evil  if  we  listen  to  him  and  obey 
him."  For  a  moment  there  was  perfect  silence.  They 
all  looked  startled,  and  as  if  they  felt  that  they  were  in 
the  presence  of  some  unseen  power.  Then  Helweh  said, 
"What  more  did  you  say?"  I  continued  the  Lord's 
Prayer;  acd  when  I  came  to  the  words,  "Give  us  day 
by  day  our  daily  bread,"  they  said,  "Can  not  you  make 
your  bread  yourself?"  The  passage,  "  Forgive  us  our 
trespasses  as  we  forgive  those  who  trespass  against  us," 
is  particularly  forcible  in  the  Arabic  language,  and  one 
of  the  elder  women,  who  was  rather  severe  and  relentless- 
looking,  on  hearing  it  said,  "Are  you  obliged  to  say  that 
every  day?"  As  if  she  thought  that  sometimes  it  would 
be  difficult  to  do  so.  They  said,  "Are  you  a  Moslem?" 
I  answered,  "I  am  not  called  a  Moslem;  but  I  am  your 
sister,  made  by  the  same  God,  who  is  the  one  only  God, 
the  God  of  all,  my  Father  and  your  Father."  They  asked 
me  if  I  knew  the  Koran,  and  were  surprised  to  hear  that 
I  had  read  it.  They  handed  a  rosary  to  me,  saying,  "  Do 
you  know  that?"  I  repeated  a  few  of  the  most  striking 
and  comprehensive  attributes  very  carefully  and  slowly. 
Then  they  cried  out,  "  Mashallah  " — "  The  English  girl  is 
a  true  believer ;"  and  the  impressionable,  sensitive-looking 
Abyssinian  slave-girls  said,  with  one  accord,  "She  is  in- 
deed an  angel !" 

Moslems,  both  men  and  women,  have  the  name  of  "Al- 
lah "  constantly  on  their  lips ;  but  they  do  not  appear  to 
realize  the  presence  and  power  of  God,  or  to  be  conscious 
of  spiritual  communion  with  him.  Their  common  greetings 
and  salutations  are  touching  and  beautiful  words  of  prayer 
and  thanksgiving,  varied  with  poetic  feeling  and  Oriental 
sentiment,  to  suit  any  occasions.     But  their  greetings,  after 


MOSLEM   PRAYERS   AND   SALUTATIONS.  253 

all,  seem  to  me  only  to  express  politeness,  respect,  kindness, 
good-will,  or  affection,  as  the  case  may  be.  Even  as  the 
old  English  "  God  he  with  you  /"  has  lost  its  full  signifi- 
cance— and  more,  it  has  even  lost  its  sound,~clipped  as  it  is 
into  a  commonplace  '"^good-hy^  The  Moslem  ejaculations 
before  and  after  eating,  and  during  the  performance  of  ab- 
lutions, though  beautiful  and  appropriate,  are  now  merely 
like  exclamations  of  self-congratulation,  without  reference 
to  any  superior  or  unseen  power.  And  the  regular  daily 
prayers  so  scrupulously  said  by  men,  though  generally 
neglected  by  women,  are  reduced  to  ceremonial  forms ; 
while  the  words  uttered  are,  in  many  instances,  sublime 
and  magnificent. 

If  this  my  notion  be  correct,  it  will  explain  why  these 
women  were  so  startled,  when,  in  answer  to  Helweh's  ques- 
tion, I  said  simply  and  earnestly,  "  /  spoke  to  God^  This 
took  them  by  surprise,  and  gave  them  the  idea  that  I  be- 
lieved that  my  words  were  really  heard.  Whereas,  if  I 
had  answered  in  commonplace  language,  such  as,  "  /  was 
saying  my  prayers,"  or  "  I  was  at  my  devotions,"  probably 
they  would  not  have  been  impressed  in  the  same  way ; 
though  they  might  have  wondered  that  a  Franji  should 
pray  at  all  to  their  God.  One  of  the  women  remarked, 
that  no  people,  except  Moslems,  ever  prayed  to  the  one 
true  God. 

After  talking  with  them  for  some  time,  and  answering, 
as  clearly  as  I  could,  their  earnest,  shrewd,  and  child-like 
questions,  I  said  "good-night"  once  more.  So  they  kissed 
me,  and  smoothed  my  pillow.  But  though  I  was  fatigued 
bodily,  my  mind  was  so  thoroughly  roused  and  interested, 
that  I  could  not  immediately  sleep.  I  watched  the  women 
resting  under  bright-colored  quilts,  with  their  heads  on 
low,  silken  pillows.  The  lantern  on  the  stool  in  the  middle 
of  the  room  lighted  up  the  coins  and  jewels  on  their  head- 
dresses. Now  and  then,  one  of  the  infants  cried,  and  its 
mother  or  a  slave  rose  to  quiet  it;  and  it  was  fed  without 
being  taken  from  its  hammock.     The  mother  stood  upright 


254  DOMESTIC    LIFE  IN  PALESTINE. 

while  the  slave  inclined  the  hammock  toward  her  for  a  few 
minutes.  Then  there  was  silence  again.  The  room  was 
very  close  and  warm,  and  the  faces  of  some  of  the  sleepers 
were  flushed.     At  last  I  slept  also. 

When  I  awoke  in  the  morning  I  found  that  all  the  heds 
had  been  cleared  away.  Helweh  and  Sit  S^ra  stood  by 
mine,  as  if  they  had  been  watching  for  me  to  wake.  A 
number  of  boys  almost  blocked  up  the  doorway,  where  the 
sunlight  was  streaming  in.  Servants  and  slaves  were  chat- 
tering, and  piling  up  the  mattresses  in  the  recess.  Little 
children  were  quarreling.  The  boys  alone  were  silent.  A 
black  girl  was  sitting  on  the  floor,  pounding  some  freshly- 
roasted  coffee-berries  in  a  marble  mortar.  Their  fragrant 
aroma  filled  the  room.  I  think  that  the  mortar  was  made 
out  of  an  ancient  capital.  It  was  beautifully  carved,  like 
Roman  work.  Another  girl  was  making  a  kind  of  porridge 
of  bread,  milk,  sugar,  and  oil,  for  the  children. 

When  Helweh  perceived  that  I  was  awake  she  called  out 
to  the  boys  to  clear  the  doorway ;  and  a  group  of  women, 
shrouded  in  white  sheets,  who  had  been  waiting  in  the 
court  outside,  entered.  They  were  neighbors,  who  had  been 
paying  visits  of  congratulation  to  the  young  mother  whom 
I  had  seen  on  the  previous  night.  They  had  been  invited 
to  come  in  "  to  hear  the  English  girl  speak  to  Grod." 

My  garments  were  examined  with  curiosity,  and  I  had 
very  much  more  assistance  than  I  required  in  making  my 
toilette.  When  I  was  dressed  Helweh  said,  "  Now,  Miriam, 
darling,  will  you  speak  to  God,  that  the  women,  our  neigh- 
bors, may  hear?" 

So  I  kneeled  down,  saying,  "God,  the  one  true  God,  is 
the  Creator  and  Father  of  all;  and  those  who  seek  him 
truly  shall  surely  find  him."  Then,  in  a  few  simple  words, 
I  prayed  that  he  would  keep  us  in  continual  remembrance 
of  him.  That  we  might  feel  his  presence;  and  that  he 
would  write  his  law  in  our  hearts,  and  lead  us  to  seek 
earnestly  to  understand  and  to  obey  his  will  concerning  us. 
That  we  might  be  inspired  to  love  him  more  and  more, 


THE  lord's  prayer.  255 

with  a  trustful  and  reverential  love,  and  live  in  harmony 
with  all  people. 

After  a  pause  I  said,  "Will  you  say  Amen  to  that 
prayer?"  They  hesitated,  till  Helweh  exclaimed,  "Amin, 
Amin!"  and  then  the  others  echoed  it. 

Sara  said,  "Speak  yet  again,  my  daughter.  Speak  about 
the  bread.''  So  I  repeated  the  Lord's  Prayer,  explaining 
it — as  I  understand  it — sentence  by  sentence,  at  their  re- 
quest. They  asked  me  some  very  curious  and  suggestive 
questions,  and  they  prayed  that  I  would  stay  with  them 
always.  But  while  I  was  taking  coffee,  and  hot  bread  and 
cream,  one  of  the  boys  brought  me  a  note  from  my  brother, 
to  tell  me  that  he  would  be  ready  to  start  in  half  an  hour, 
and  that  I  was  to  go  to  him  in  the  divan  as  soon  as  pos- 
sible. So  Sara  brought  me  my  cloak  and  habit,  which  had 
been  nicely  dried  and  smoothed.  With  regret  I  took  leave 
of  my  warm-hearted  friends  of  the  harem.  They  said,  "Go 
in  peace,"  and  "Return  to  us  again,  0  Miriam,  beloved!" 


256  DOMESTIC  LIFE  IN  PALESTINE. 


CHAPTER   X. 

FROM  ARRABEH  TO  NABLUS. 

All  the  little  boys  went  with  me  into  the  divan,  where 
my  brother  sat,  surrounded  by  effendis  and  young  men  of 
the  Abdul  Hady  family.  He  had  dismissed  the  guide  who 
had  conducted  us  to  Arrabeh,  and  decided  to  travel  with- 
out one.  We  were  safer  alone.  It  might  have  compro- 
mised us  to  have  in  our  party  any  one  who  had  been  en- 
gaged in  the  late  skirmishes,  or  who  belonged  to  a  faction. 

It  was  pouring  with  rain  when  we  started ;  but  the  sun 
shone  no w^  and  then,  tracing  vivid  rainbows  in  the  clouds. 
The  undulating  highlands  which  we  traversed  reminded  me 
of  the  Sussex  downs;  while  beyond  them  bare  rocks  and 
rugged  slopes  appeared.  Far  away  on  the  right,  the  Med- 
iterranean could  be  seen,  between  grayish-blue  hills.  Oc- 
casionally we  passed  quite  an  English-looking  bank  of 
grass  and  wild  flowers;  and  wherever  the  poterium  spino- 
sum  grew,  it  sheltered  the  sweetwilliam,  the  Chinese  pink, 
and  the  forget-me-not.  We  rode  over  a  large,  well-culti- 
vated plain,  and  met  two  horsemen,  who  courteously  ex- 
changed salutations  with  us,  and  then  said,  "What  is  the 
news?"  and  "Whence  do  you  come?" 

Rain  fell  heavily,  as  we  rode  on  to  a  steep  ridge,  which 
commanded  a  view  of  the  fortress  of  Senur.  It  stands  on 
the  summit  of  a  seemingly-inaccessible  hill,  of  conical 
form.  The  road  down  the  southern  side  of  the  ridge  was 
BO  very  difficult  and  dangerous  for  horses,  that  we,  and 
even  the  Arabs,  dismounted,  and  the  animals  were  un- 
willingly dragged  or  urged  along.  We  made  our  way  cau- 
tiously, stepping,  and  sliding,  and  leaping  by  turns  over 
the  loosened  stones  and  smooth  slabs  of  rock;  sometimes 


CASTLE   OF  SENUR.  257 

walking  in  the  midst  of  a  water-course,  with  the  shallow 
but  increasing  stream  rushing  round  our  feet.  We  paused 
for  a  minute  or  two  in  a  narrow  valley,  and  stood  in  the 
shelter  of  a  low,  deserted  hut,  made  of  tree-branches  and 
stones.  Then,  with  difficulty,  we  mounted  the  hill,  and 
reached  Senur.  The  inhabitants  will  not  willingly  make 
the  approach  to  their  town  more  easy  while  the  country  is 
subject  to  civil  war. 

We  found  the  gates  of  the  town  closed ;  but,  after  a 
parley  with  the  sentinels,  we  were  admitted.  It  was  just 
midday.  I  was  tired,  giddy,  and  wet.  We  were  led  into 
a  large,  vaulted,  smoke-blackened  hall,  on  the  ground-floor 
of  the  castle.  About  fifty  men  rose,  wrapped  their  heavy 
cloaks  around  them,  and  left  the  place  as  we  entered.  A 
carpet  was  spread  for  us  in  a  deep,  wide  window-seat.  I 
poured  the  water  from  the  brim  of  my  hat,  and  gladly 
threw  off  my  cloak,  and  took  a  cup  of  hot  coffee.  In  the 
mean  time,  another  resting-place  was  made  ready  for  us. 
Ibrahim  Jerrar  and  his  brother,  the  chiefs  of  the  town, 
conducted  us  across  the  castle-yard,  up  a  steep,  uncovered 
stone  stairway,  into  an  open  court.  As  we  crossed  the 
threshold  of  a  vaulted  chamber,  in  the  highest  part  of  the 
castle,  they  said,  "  Be  welcome,  and  take  your  rest."  Mats, 
and  carpets,  and  cushions  had  been  newly  spread  on  the 
ground.  The  window  of  this  room  commanded  a  view  of  a 
small  fertile  plain,  almost  inclosed  by  hills,  but  which 
could  be  easily  approached  from  the  south-west  by  a  nar- 
row valley  or  pass.  In  time  of  war  its  dark  vista  is  always 
carefully  watched  by  the  people  of  Senur. 

A  lunch  of  bread,  fried  eggs,  goat's-milk  cheese,  and 
olives  was  brought  in,  and  placed  on  a  round  wooden  tray 
raised  a  few  inches  from  the  ground.  Serving  men  poured 
water  over  our  hands.  When  lunch  was  cleared  away,  and 
coffee  and  pipes  went  round,  an  earnest  conversation  com- 
menced between  the  Jerrars  and  my  brother,  while  three  or 
four  men  sat  by,  silently  smoking  and  listening.  I  rested 
apart    from    them    on    a    cushioned    carpet,    watching    the 

22 


258  DOMESTIC   LIFE   IN   PALESTINE. 

animated  group.  I  had  never  in  the  East  seen  any  men  so 
tall,  well-proportioned,  and  handsome  as  the  two  Jerrars. 
Their  large,  loose,  white  and  brown  cloaks  hung  in  grace- 
ful folds,  and  their  red  and  yellow  silk  shawl  head-dresses 
shaded  bright,  clear  countenances,  with  classically-regular, 
yet  very  expressive  features.  My  brother  said  to  me  in 
English,  "  If  you  have  an  opportunity,  by  all  means  take 
the  likeness  of  our  host,  Ibrahim.  He  is  the  most  cele- 
brated man  in  this  district,  both  as  regards  courage,  dar- 
ing, and  energy ;  and  his  family  for  many  generations  have 
been  renowned  for  strength,  vigor,  and  manly  beauty. 
But,"  he  added,  "  do  not  let  him  or  any  of  the  others  see 
you  sketching  him,  for  he  is  quite  as  superstitious  as  he  is 
handsome." 

The  men  were  all  so  earnestly  engaged  in  smoking,  talk- 
ing, or  listening,  that,  by  writing  and  drawing  by  turns,  I 
succeeded  in  securing  the  portrait  without  exciting  ob- 
servation. 

Ibrahim  Jerrar  took  me  to  his  harem.  It  was  in  the 
most  central  and  secure  part  of  the  castle,  and  consisted  of 
three  rooms,  opening  into  a  square  court.  He  introduced 
me  to  his  three  wives,  and  gave  them  directions  to  welcome 
me  as  a  sister,  and  then  left  me  with  them,  while  he  con- 
ducted my  brother  over  the  town.  The  women  greeted  me 
and  stared  at  me  with  unconcealed  wonder.  They  were 
more  simple,  frank,  and  innocent-looking  than  any  Arab 
women  I  had  seen.  They  were  young  and  rather  fair, 
stout  and  ruddy,  and  cheerful  and  bright  as  happy  chil- 
dren. They  belonged  to  the  peasant  class.  Their  long, 
open  dresses,  or  pelisses,  were  of  soft  crimson  and  white 
striped  silk.  Large  silver  coins  encircled  their  faces,  and 
a  row  of  small  gold  coins  crossed  their  foreheads,  like  a 
fillet,  to  bind  down  their  thick  black  hair,  which  was  cut 
short  in  front  and  combed  straight  down,  meeting  their 
arched  eyebrows,  quite  hiding  their  foreheads.  Their  eyes 
were  large  and  clear,  their  eyelids  were  edged  with  kohl, 
and  their  chins  and  chests  were  dotted  with  tattooed  stars. 


TURKISH   CAVALRY.  259 

They  and  their  children,  and  their  white-washed  matted 
room,  looked  fresh,  and  clean,  and  pleasant. 

I  found  that  the  handsomest,  healthiest,  and  strongest 
girls  are  always  sought  for  as  brides  for  the  Jerrars — that 
the  health,  strength,  and  beauty  of  which  they  are  so 
proud,  may  be  perpetuated  in  the  family.  I  never  heard 
of  a  Jerrar  who  could  read  or  write,  or  even  sign  his  name. 
On  the  other  hand,  many  of  the  men  of  the  Abdul  Hady 
family  are  well  educated,  and  set  a  high  value  on  hook 
learning ;  and  the  ladies  of  Arrabeh  are  somewhat  polished, 
and  look  very  different  to  the  simple  rustic  women  of 
Senur.  I  made  a  sketch  of  the  head  of  one  of  the  wives 
while  I  tried  to  lead  them  into  conversation,  but  I  could 
not  "bring  them  out."  When  I  spoke  they  only  looked 
wonderingly  at  me,  laughied  shyly  at  each  other,  or  uttered 
some  set  phrase  embodying  a  compliment  or  a  prayer. 

While  I  was  resting  and  smoking  a  narghile  which  they 
had  prepared  for  me,  I  was  suddenly  called  to  rejoin  my 
brother.  I  found  that  the  young  man  who  was  set  to 
watch  the  south-western  approach  to  Senur,  had  just  given 
notice  that  he  could  see  a  body  of  Turkish  cavalry  issuing 
from  the  narrow  valley  into  the  plain  below.  Ibrahim 
Jerrar  told  us  that  he  knew  that  they  were  sent  by  Kamil 
Pasha  to  search  the  town — to  see  if  there  were  any  Bedou- 
ins concealed  there,  ready  to  assist  the  people  of  Senur  in 
case  of  a  siege.  He  added  decidedly,  "  I  have  given  my 
word  of  honor  that  there  are  no  Bedouins  within  these 
walls.  We  are  all  peasants.  No  one  shall  live  to  pass 
through  these  gates,  who  attempts  to  enter  with  an  armed 
force,  to  examine  the  town^ 

My  brother  reasoned  with  him.  Ibrahim  declared  that 
he  would  receive  the  commander  of  the  approaching  party 
peacefully,  and  with  honor  and  courtesy,  if  he  came  alone; 
but  if  he  approached  with  his  soldiers  the  gates  would  he 
closed  against  him.  The  hurrying  to  and  fro  in  the  narrow 
streets  showed  that  preparations  for  resistance  were  being 
made.     My  brother  said  to  me,   "I  am  perfectly  satisfied 


260  DOMESTIC   LIFE   IN   PALESTINE. 

that  there  are  no  Bedouins  in  the  town.  Have  you  courage 
to  go  down  with  me  alone  into  the  plain,  that  I  may  speak 
to  the  cavalry  officer,  and  prevent  if  possible  a  useless  and 
unequal  conflict?"  I  did  not  hesitate  for  an  instant.  So 
we  mounted,  and,  as  quickly  as  we  could,  we  rode  down  the 
hill,  quite  unattended,  while  the  people  on  the  embattled 
walls  and  house-tops,  and  at  the  guarded  gate,  watched  and 
directed  us,  wishing  us  "  Godspeed."  We  were  soon  nearly 
half-way  across  the  plain,  and  there  encountered  the  advanc- 
ing soldiers.  When  we  were  within  speaking  distance,  we 
stopped  suddenly,  facing  them.  They  were  on  the  point 
of  dividing  to  pass  on  each  side  of  us,  but  my  brother  held 
up  his  hand  energetically,  and  said,  speaking  as  one  having 
authority,  ^^  HaltT  and  immediately  they  stood  still.  Then 
he  called  to  the  colonel,  saying  he  desired  to  speak  with 
him,  and,  keeping  up  his  attitude  of  assumed  authority, 
said,  "  0  Colonel !  you  are  going  to  Senur  in  the  name  of 
his  Excellency  Kamil  Pasha.  The  answer  to  the  message 
of  which  you  are  the  bearer  will  be  '  No'  Go  yourself 
quietly  and  peaceably,  and  obtain  that  answer  from  the 
town.  But  if  you  allow  your  men  to  advance  one  step 
nearer  to  it,  you  will  be  answerable  for  the  consequences." 

The  Colonel  unhesitatingly  prepared  to  obey,  leaving  his 
little  detachment  in  the  plain,  with  orders  to  await  his  re- 
turn. We  rode  slowly  backward  and  forward  among  the 
wondering  Turkish  soldiers,  who  galloped  round  and  round 
us,  performing  feats  of  horsemanship  for  our  amusement. 
•A  black  man,  who  seemed  to  be  the  Colonel's  especial  at- 
tendant, played  on  a  triangle,  and  made  fantastic  move- 
ments with  his  turbaned  head- 

The  detachment  consisted  of  only  seventy  horsemen,  and 
they  would  soon  have  been  sacrificed  if  they  had  come  into 
collision  with  the  men  of  Sentir,  and  no  object  would  have 
been  gained.  After  a  short  delay,  the  Colonel  returned 
quite  satisfied,  and  rejoined  his  men.  At  the  same  time 
our  servants  and  attendants  came  down  to  us  with  the  lug- 
gage, and  we  pursued   our  journey  toward   Nabliis,  which 


TO  NABLUS.  261 

is  about  fifteen  miles  due  soutli  of  Seniir.  We  were  pre- 
ceded by  the  soldiers.  We  rode  for  a  little  while  in  com- 
pany with  the  Colonel,  who  told  us  that  Kamil  Pasha  had 
determined  to  destroy  Senur,  and  had  offered  a  reward  of 
thirty  thousand  piasters  for  the  head  of  Ibrahim  Jerrar. 
When  we  reached  the  entrance  to  the  narrow  valley,  our 
military  escort  took  leave  of  us,  and  we  soon  lost  sight  of 
the  soldiers.  They  galloped  along  one  after  the  other 
recklessly,  over  rocks  and  brushwood,  spurring  their  horses 
with  the  edges  of  their  shovel-shaped  stirrups. 

These  incidents,  from  the  moment  when  "the  young  man 
who  "kept  the  watch"  first  perceived  the  horsemen  issuing 
from  the  narrow  valley,  till  they  took  leave  of  us,  did  not 
occupy  half  an  hour,  though  it  seemed  a  much  longer  space 
of  time. 

My  brother  explained  to  me  that  he  had  no  real  author- 
ity to  interfere  as  he  had  done  in  this  case.  He  act€kd  not 
officially,  but  individually,  feeling  that  principles  of  human- 
ity, and  our  somewhat  critical  position,  justified  him.  It 
was  singular  that  we  had  been  the  well  received  guests  of 
the  heads  of  the  two  great  rival  factions  of  the  district, 
within  a  few  hours,  and  had  thus  gained  much  important 
information. 

Hills  and  valleys,  rain  and  sunshine,  checkered  our  way 
till,  at  about  sunset,  we  reached  the  olive-groves  of  Nabltis. 
Although  I  was  wet,  and  cold,  and  tired,  all  my  energy 
and  delight  returned  when  the  beautiful  valley  between 
Mount  Ebal  and  Mount  Gerizim,  and  the  well-built  town 
of  Nablus  were  in  sight,  with  glimpses  of  the  distant  sea, 
where  the  sun  was  going  down.  I  was  surprised  to  see  a 
quantity  of  mistletoe  on  the  olive-trees.  The  great  gates, 
which  were  on  the  point  of  being  closed,  were  thrown  back 
for  us,  and  we  rode  through  dark  arcades  and  narrow 
streets  to  the  house  of  Ody  Azam,  the  British  Consul's 
agent.  There  we  were  comfortably  entertained,  for  our 
host,  who  could  speak  a  little  English,  was  accustomed  to 
receive  European  travelers.     His  house,  indeed,  was  a  kind 


DOMESTIC    LIFE   IN   PALESTINE. 

of  hotel,  and  his  wife  and  niece  quickly  made  ready  their 
most  cozy  room  for  me.  Our  arrival  was  soon  announced, 
and  visitors  thronged  the  large  divan  all  the  evening,  for 
my  brother  was  well  known  in  Nablus.  Priest  Amran,  of 
the  Samaritan  community,  came,  speaking  with  earnest  grat- 
itude of  the  kindness  of  the  English  people,  and  of  the 
English  Government. 

Kamil  Pasha — who  had  been  my  host  at  Hebron — sent 
an  Effendi  to  convey  his  salutations  to  us,  and  a  number 
of  Turkish  officials  followed.  I  knew  the  Effendi  very 
well.  He  was  a  Christian,  and  the  first  of  his  creed  who 
had  been  raised  to  the  rank  of  Effendi  in  the  Jerusalem 
Council.  I  said  to  him,  "Tell  me,  O  most  honorable,  is  it 
true  that  his  Excellency  Kamil  Pasha  has  offered  a  reward 
of  thirty  thousand  piasters  for  the  head  of  Ibrahim,  the. 
chief  of  Senur?"  He  answered,  "Even  so,  most  excellent 
lady!"  I  then  said,  "Will  your  honor  salute  the  Pasha  in 
my  name,  and  inform  him  that  I  have  the  head  of  the 
chief,  Ibrahim  Jerrar,  in  my  possession?"  The  guests  who 
were  present  stared,  and  even  my  brother  was  taken  by 
surprise.  The  Effendi  said,  "  Are  you  throwing  dust  in  our 
eyes?  Is  my  lady  laughing  at  the  Pasha's  beard?"  I  said 
again,  "Let  his  excellency  know  that  I  have  in  my  pos- 
session a  head  which  he  desires  to  obtain."  I  spoke  in  a 
seemingly-serious  tone,  and  would  give  no  further  explana- 
tion. The  people  were  evidently  as  much  amused  as  they 
were  puzzled. 

The  next  morning,  after  a  perfect  rest,  I  rose  and  was 
called  into  the  divan,  where  the  Effendi  awaited  me.  Kamil 
Pasha  had  sent  him  to  greet  me,  and  had  authorized  him 
to  receive  from  my  hands  the  head  of  the  rebel  chief.  I 
said,  "Where  is  the  purse  of  piasters,  0  your  honor?"  He 
replied,  "The  piasters  are  not  with  me,  0  my  lady!"  I 
answered,  "  Then  I  can  not  give  you  the  head."  So  he  went 
away  and  presently  returned  with  the  Pasha's  page,  who 
carried  a  large  round  tray  of  hot  canafi,  a  sweetmeat  made 
of  vermicelli,  baked  with   butter,  sugar,  almonds,  walnuts, 


NABLUS.  263 

and  spices.  The  Pasha  had  ordered  it  to  be  brought  to 
me.  A  number  of  people  whose  curiosity  had  been  ex- 
cited came  to  see  the  issue,  and  to  partake  of  their  favor- 
ite dish. 

The  Effendi  graciously  placed  the  dish  before  me,  and, 
after  a  general  washing  of  hands,  all  present  partook  of  it. 
I  was  asked  if  I  would  inform  them  where  the  head  was. 
I  said,  "  It  is  in  my  portmanteau  in  the  opposite  room." 
Then  the  Effendi  said,  "  Will  you  show  it  to  us,  0  gracious 
lady?"  A  glance  from  my  brother  induced  me  to  comply, 
so  I  fetched  the  drawing,  and  the  men,  on  seeing  it,  cried 
out  immediately,  "Ibrahim!"  "It  is  Ibrahim  Jerrar!"  "It 
is  Ibrahim  of  Senur!"  "0  work  of  God!"  The  gravest 
and  most  stately-looking  of  our  guests  seemed  thoroughly 
to  enjoy  the  joke.  They  went  away  to  explain  the  mystery 
to  Kamil  Pasha,  who  afterward  called  to  see  me  and  the 
portrait,  which  he  asked  me  to  allow  him  to  keep.  I  said, 
"With  pleasure,  your  excellency,  if  you  will  consent  to  re- 
gard it  as  the  real  head  and  the  only  head  of  Ibrahim 
Jerrar,  and  act  accordingly.'^  His  excellency  laughingly 
declined  to  do  this,  so  I  have  kept  my  sketch,  which  he, 
however,  seemed  rather  unwilling  to  part  with.  He  exam- 
ined it  carefully,  and  held  it  in  his  hand  for  a  long  time, 
but  I  would  not  alter  my  conditions.  However,  another 
drawing  which  he  selected  from  my  folio,  I  gave  to  him. 
He  and  his  suite  went  away  apparently  very  much  amused. 

We  found  Nablus  and  its  neighborhood  in  a  very  unset- 
tled state.  It  was  exceedingly  difficult  to  convey  letters 
from  this  district.  Postmen  were  constantly  waylaid  and 
robbed.  My  brother,  who  was  directed  to  write  every  sec- 
ond day  to  Her  Britannic  Majesty's  Consul  at  Jerusalem, 
employed  special  messengers.  They  were  several  times  at- 
tacked, ai^d  were  severely  beaten  when  they  attempted  to 
preserve  the  dispatches  and  letters  intrusted  to  their  care. 

This  is  always  the  case  in  Syria  during  civil  war.  In- 
triguing officers,  and  the  leaders  of  contending  factions,  do 
not  like  their  proceedings  to  be  reported  to  head-quarters, 


264  DOMESTIC   LIFE   IN   PALESTINE. 

and  they  generally  endeavor  to  mislead  the  European  Con- 
suls. My  brother  spent  several  hours  every  day  at  Kamil 
Pasha's  encampment,  and  accompanied  his  excellency  when 
he  visited  the  neighboring  villages. 

In  the  mean  time  I  was  rarely  left  alone.  I  was  visited 
at  all  hours  by  Moslems,  Christians,  and  Samaritans ; 
the  latter  people  interested  me  greatly.  Priest  Amran, 
a  cheerful,  shrewd  -  looking,  well-informed  man,  between 
forty  and  fifty  years  of  age,  used  to  hear  me  read  Arabic 
every  morning.  He  gave  me  an  interesting  account  of  his 
little  community,  whose  .numbers  amounted  to  only  one 
hundred  and  ninety-six.*  He  said  that  there  was  great 
difficulty  sometimes  in  arranging  suitable  marriages  among 
them,  for  they  never  intermarry  with  strangers.  The  priest 
is  always  consulted  on  the  subject;  and  as  he  or  his  aged 
father,  Selameh,  alone  have  power  to  celebrate  a  marriage, 
none  can  take  place  without  their  consent.  He  said,  "At 
the  present  moment  the  marriageable  men  are  more  nu- 
merous than  the  marriageable  girls.  Our  girls  are  all 
young,  and  I  am  very  much  troubled  about  it." 

As  an  instance,  he  explained  to  me  that  Yakub  esh 
Shellabi,  whose  visit  to  England  may  be  remembered  by 
some  of  my  readers,  had  been  betrothed  to  Zora  while  she 
was  yet  a  child.  Yakub  was  in  England  when  Zora  was 
marriageable;  Amran  did  not  permit  her  to  wait  for  him, 
but  married  her  to  Habib,  a  widower,  who  had  one  little 
girl,  named  Anithe.  She  was  seven  years  old,  and  was 
to  be  given  to  Yakub  in  the  place  of  Zora,  who  was  now 
her  step-mother.  He  said,  "This  marriage  has  caused  me 
great  anxiety  and  much  trouble." 

Another  man,  who  was  only  thirty,  and  for  whom  a  girl 
could  not  be  found,  had  married  a  widow  fifty  years  of 
age,  and  he  was  now  trying  to  persuade  Priest  Amran  to 
allow  him  to  put  her  away,  that  he  might  be  betrothed 
to  the  priest's  daughter,  who  was  about  eleven.     He  said, 

*  According  to  Wilson's  acconnt,  they  numbered  one  hundred  and  fifty  in 
the  year  1843. 


VAIL   OP  THE   TEMPLE.  265 

"Nearly  all  our  girls  are  promised  before  they  can  speak, 
and  are  married  when  they  are  eleven  or  twelve." 

Priest  Amran  took  me  one  day  to  the  Samaritan  quarter. 
It  is  an  irregular  cluster  of  two-storied  houses,  in  the  most 
crowded  part  of  the  town.  We  passed  through  white- 
washed passages,  and  ascended  a  crooked,  uncovered,  steep 
stone  stairway,  leading  into  an  open  court,  where  a  large, 
glossy  -  leaved  lemon -tree  grew  close  to  an  arched  door, 
through  which  we  passed,  after  "putting  oflf"  our  shoes. 
I  found  that  I  was  in  the  synagogue.  It  is  a  simple, 
unadorned,  vaulted  building,  in  rather  a  dilapidated  state. 
Amran  introduced  me  to  the  chief  priest,  his  aged  father, 
"Selameh" — he  who,  in  1808,  corresponded  with  Baron  de 
Sacy.  He  received  me  very  courteously.  After  a  short 
conversation  about  Yakub  esh  Shellabi,  he  said,  "  I  am 
very  old,  but  I  shall  die  in  peace,  thanking  God  that  he 
has  let  me  live  to  see  my  people  under  the  protection 
of  the  English  Government."  He  said  this  in  allusion 
to  the  fact  that  Lord  Clarendon  had  sent  instructions  to 
the  Consuls  resident  in  Palestine,  expressing  the  interest 
which  Her  Britannic  Majesty's  Government  takes  in  the 
Samaritans,  and  directing  them  to  afford,  in  case  of  need, 
such  protection  as  may  be  proper  toward  Turkish  subjects. 
His  Excellency  Lord  Stratford  de  Redcliffe  had  also  been 
instructed  to  use  his  good  offices  with  the  Porte  in  favor 
of  the  Samaritan  community.  A  mat  was  spread  on  the 
stone  floor,  and  there  I  rested,  listening  to  the  slowly  and 
earnestly-uttered  words  of  the  aged  priest.  He  wore  a 
loose  blue  cloth  robe,  lined  with  crimson,  over  a  yellow 
and  red-striped  satin  kumbaz,  which  is  made  like  a  dressing- 
gown.     His  large  turban  and  his  long  beard  were  white. 

He  directed  my  attention  to  the  vail  of  the  temple.  It 
was  a  square  curtain  of  white  damask  linen,  ornamented 
with  applique  work ;  that  is,  pieces  of  red,  purple,  and 
green  linen  were  sewed  on  to  it,  forming  a  beautiful  pattern 
of  conventional  ornament.  He  supposed  it  to  be  six  or 
seven   hundred  years   old,   but   I   imagine   that  it  is   the 

23 


266  DOMESTIC   LIFE   IN   PALESTINE. 

work  of  the  sixteenth  century.  After  I  had  copied  the 
design  of  the  vail  carefully  Priest  Amran  drew  it  aside, 
and  revealed  a  deep  recess,  where  the  rolls  of  the  law 
are  kept.  Then  his  father  rose,  and  with  trembling  hands 
brought  out  the  celebrated  copy  of  the  Tora  or  Pentateuch, 
which  is  said  to  have  been  written  by  Abishua,  the  son  of 
Phinehas,  the  son  of  Eleazar,  who  was  the  son  of  Aaron. 
It  is  kept  in  a  cylindrical  silver-gilt  case,  which  opens  on 
two  sets  of  hinges,  and  on  its  red  satin  cover  Hebrew 
inscriptions  are  embroidered  with  gold  thread.  At  my 
request  Selameh  sat  down  for  a  little  while,  holding  it  in 
his  hands,  that  I  might  sketch  it  and  him.  When  he  had 
carefully  returned  this  precious  roll  to  its  place,  he  showed 
me  several  later  copies  of  the  Pentateuch — some  in  the 
Samaritan,  others  in  the  Arabic  character;  a  printed  col- 
lection of  psalms  or  hymns ;  several  commentaries  on  the 
law  of  different  periods;  a  history  of  the  community  from 
the  Exodus  to  the  time  of  Mohammed;  and  a  very  curious 
manuscript,  called  the  Book  of  Joshua,  which  begins  with 
an  account  of  the  journey ings  of  the  company  of  spies 
who  were  sent  into  the  promised  land  by  Moses,  and 
concludes  with  fabulous  stories  of  the  life  of  Alexander. 
This  seems  to  be  rather  a  favorite  book.  It  is  written  in 
Arabic,  but  the  proper  names  and  certain  words  are  in  the 
Samaritan  characters.  It  is  said  to  be  of  Syriac  and  not 
of  Hebrew  origin.  I  brought  a  copy  of  this  remarkable 
work  to  England. 

A  number  of  the  neighbors  came  into  the  synagogue  to 
see  me,  and  to  invite  me  to  their  houses,  and  fair  little 
children  crowded  round.  I  took  leave  of  the  aged  Priest 
Selameh,  and  he  gave  me  his  patriarchal  blessing.  Then 
I  went  with  Priest  Amran  to  call  on  Habib  and  his  wife 
Zora,  who  had  been  the  betrothed  of  Yakub  esh  Shellabi. 
I  was  led  into  a  large,  low,  but  very  airy  room,  with 
raised  divans,  nicely  carpeted  and  cushioned,  on  two  sides 
of  it.  Mats  and  rugs  on  the  stone  floor  made  the  place 
look  comfortable,  and  a  red  brass-hinged  box,  a  rudely- 


HOME  OF  HABIb  AND  ZORA.  267 

carved  red  cradle,  ornamental  corner  cupboards,  and  painted 
wooden  shelves,  with  rows  of  green  drinking-glasses  ranged 
upon  them,  relieved  the  whitewashed  walls. 

Habib,  to  whom  I  had  been  previously  introduced, 
welcomed  me  with  courteous  gravity.  His  pretty  little 
motherless  daughter,  Anithe,  came  forward  promptly  to 
greet  me;  but  Zora,  the  young  wife,  seemed  unwilling  to 
appear.  Priest  Amran  told  me  that  she  was  purposely 
hiding.  Habib  went  out  into  the  court  of  the  house,  and 
when  he  reentered  his  wife  followed  him  with  seeming 
reluctance;  she  looked  embarrassed  and  sad,  and  returned 
my  salutations  sullenly.  She  was  rather  handsome,  and 
was  decked  as  a  bride ;  she  wore  full  trowsers  and  a  tight 
jacket.  Her  chest  was  very  much  exposed,  and  painted  or 
tattooed  bright-blue;  her  gold  necklace  or  collar  was  large 
and  massive,  and  several  coins  were  attached  to  it;  her 
head-dress  was  adorned  with  red  and  yellow  everlasting 
flowers,  and  folds  of  blue  crape;  her  hands  and  feet,  which 
were  naked,  were  so  delicately  and  artistically  stained  with 
henna,  that  she  looked  as  if  she  had  fine  lace  mittens  and 
sandals  on.  She  made  me  some  lemonade,  while  Anithe 
brought  me  a  narghile. 

Many  women  came  in;  among  them  was  Yakub  esh 
Shellabi's  mother.  She  said  impetuously,  "  How  long 
shall  I  wait  for  my  son  Yakub  and  not  see  him  ?  Why 
does  he  stay  so  long  away  from  his  country  and  his 
people?  Why  did  you  leave  him  in  England,  0  lady? 
I  shall  die  and  never  see  him  again."  I  answered,  "  Be 
comforted ;  your  son  will  return  to  you  and  give  you  joy." 
Zora  seemed  troubled  at  the  mention  of  his  name,  and  left 
the  room;  but  Habib  smiled  a  smile  of  self-congratulation, 
and  asked  if  I  thought  that  Yakub  would  return  in  time 
to  claim  his  little  daughter.  The  child  evidently  quite 
understood  how  affairs  had  been  arranged,  but  did  not 
display  the  slightest  interest  or  emotion.  While  the  other 
girls  and  women  who  were  present  asked  with  curiosity 
and   volubility   all    sorts   of  questions   about   Yakub,   and 


268  DOMESTIC  LIFE  IN  PALESTINE. 

were  highly  amused  with  the  account  I  gave  them  of  his 
reception  in  England,  little  Anithe  maintained  a  quiet  and 
dignified  reserve,  which  I  suppose,  according  to  Samaritan 
etiquette,  was  very  praiseworthy  and  becoming. 

Zora  did  not  reenter  the  room ;  but  when  I  passed 
through  the  court,  on  my  way  to  the  house  of  a  neighbor, 
I  saw  her  with  her  mother  engaged  in  cooking.  She  had 
been  crying,  and  on  seeing  me  she  hastily  ran  into  a  store- 
room and  disappeared.  Amran  said,  "  She  is  not  quite 
reconciled  yet  to  the  new  arrangement;  but  her  husband 
is  good  and  well  off,  and  she  will  soon  be  happy." 

I  visited  three  other  houses,  all  of  the  same  character 
as  Habib's,  but  his  was  the  most  comfortably  furnished. 
On  the  whole,  I  was  very  favorably  impressed  with  the 
appearance  of  the  Samaritan  community.  The  men  were 
generally  handsome,  tall,  healthy-looking,  and  intelligent, 
but  very  few  of  them  could  read  or  write.  The  women  are 
modest,  and  the  children  very  pretty  and  thoughtful,  yet 
full  of  life  and  activity.  I  am  told  that  the  Samaritans 
live  to  a  great  age,  and  generally  escape  the  epidemics 
which  break  out  occasionally  in  Nablus.  Perhaps  this  is 
owing  to  the  simplicity  of  their  lives,  and  their  scrupulous 
cleanliness.  They  observe  the  ceremonial  laws  of  Moses 
with  fidelity.  Three  times  a  year  they  go  in  solemn  pro- 
cession to  the  summit  of  Gerizim,  repeating  portions  of 
the  law  as  they  ascend,  and  they  still  proudly  proclaim  to 
pilgrims  and  travelers,  "  Our  fathers  worshiped  in  this 
mountain."      The  mountain  is  now  called  "  Jebel-el-Tor." 

They  do  not  receive  any  part  of  the  Bible,  except  the 
Pentateuch.  They  say  that  the  other  books  are  forgeries, 
and  they  regard  the  seventeenth  chapter  of  the  Second 
Book  of  Kings  as  a  cruel  calumny,  originating  with  their 
enemies  the  Jews.  The  Jews,  on  the  other  hand,  declare 
that  this  portion  of  the  Bible  is  rejected  by  the  Samari- 
tans, simply  because  it  records  their  true  history  and  testi- 
fies against  them. 

The   Samaritans  declare  themselves  to   be   children  of 


PRIEST  AMRAN.  269 

Manasseh  and  Ephraim,  and  their  priest  is  said  to  be  lin- 
eally descended  from  a  branch  of  the  tribe  of  Levi,  by 
whom  their  services  have  been  conducted  throughout  all 
generations.  Priest  Amran  explained  this  to  me,  and  then 
said,  "  Alas,  I  have  no  son !  I  have  no  son  to  whom  to 
teach  the  holy  language,  no  son  to  assist  me  in  the  serv- 
ices, no  son  to  inherit  the  priesthood.  God  forbid  that  I 
should  be  the  last  of  my  race,  and  leave  my  people  with- 
out a  priest!" 

It  was  a  cause  of  bitter  sorrow  to  the  Samaritans  when, 
some  time  ago,  the  last  male  representative  of  the  Aaronic 
family  died ;  for  he  was  the  last  of  their  hereditary  high- 
priests — the  last  to  offer  sacrifices  for  them.  They  are 
obliged  now  to  limit  their  ministrations  to  such  services  as 
may  legally  be  performed  by  Priest  Amran  and  his  father, 
who  represent  the  tribe  of  Levi,  of  whom  it  is  written,  that 
the  Lord  spoke  unto  Moses,  saying,  "  Present  them  before 
Aaron  the  priest,  that  they  may  minister  unto  him.  And 
they  shall  keep  his  charge,  and  the  charge  of  the  whole 
congregation,  before  the  tabernacle  of  the  congregation,  to 
do  the  service  of  the  tabernacle."  (See  Num.  iii,  5,  etc.) 
And  again  it  is  written,  that  God  spoke  unto  Moses,  and 
said,  "  Thou  shalt  put  upon  Aaron  the  holy  garments,  and 
anoint  him  and  sanctify  him;  and  thou  shalt  anoint  his 
sons,  and  their  anointing  shall  surely  be  an  everlasting 
priesthood  throughout  all  generations."  And  unto  Aaron 
God  said,  "  Ye  shall  keep  the  charge  of  the  sanctuary,  and 
the  charge  of  the  altar;  and  thy  brethren  the  Levites 
[such  as  Amran  and  his  father]  shall  keep  the  charge  of 
all  the  tabernacle :  only  they  shall  not  come  nigh  the  ves- 
sels of  the"  sanctuary  and  the  altar,  that  neither  they,  nor 
ye  also,  die."     (See  Num.  xviii.) 

With  these  verses  before  me,  and  knowing  the  character 
of  the  Samaritans,  their  belief  in  the  true  descent  of  their 
priests,  their  implicit  faith  in  the  Divine  inspiration  of  the 
Tora,  and  their  consequent  reliance  on  the  eflScacy  of  cere- 
monial services,  I  can  well  imagine  their  desolation  when 


270  DOMESTIC   LIFE  IN   PALESTINE. 

they  buried  tlie  last  of  the  anointed  sons  of  Aaron,  and 
were  left  without  a  high-priest  to  minister  for  them.  With 
the  house  of  Aaron  the  celebration  of  the  highest  offices 
of  their  religion  ceased.  No  sacrifices  can  be  oflFered  now, 
and  there  is  no  one  "  to  make  atonement  for  the  people." 

During  the  days  of  unleavened  bread  the  Samaritans 
live  in  tents,  on  the  mountain  near  to  the  ruins  of  their 
ancient  temple.  "  On  the  fifteenth  day  of  the  first  month," 
the  whole  congregation,  men,  women,  and  children,  except 
such  as  are  ceremonially  unclean,  being  assembled,  the 
priest  stands  forth  on  a  mound,  and  reads,  in  a  most 
solemn  and  impressive  voice,  the  animated  description  of 
the  Exodus. 

In  a  trench,  ten  feet  long  by  two  feet  wide,  previously 
prepared  by  laborers,  a  fire  is  kindled,  and  two  caldrons 
of  water  are  placed  over  it.  A  round  pit  is  dug,  in  the 
form  of  a  well ;  and  it  is  heated  to  serve  as  an  oven. 
Then  lambs  are  brought,  in  sufficiency  for  the  whole 
community.  Seven  is  now  the  usual  number.  At  sunset, 
seven  men,  in  white  dresses,  take  each  a  lamb  before  him, 
and  at  the  utterance  of  a  particular  word  in  the  service  ap- 
pointed for  the  day,  all  seven  lambs  are  slain  at  the  same 
instant.  Every  member  of  the  congregation  then  dips  his 
hand  in  the  blood  of  the  dying  victims,  and  besmears  his 
forehead  with  it.  Boiling  water  from  the  caldrons  is 
poured  over  the  fleece,  which  causes  the  wool  to  leave 
the  skin  without  much  difficulty.  It  is  plucked  off  with 
great  nicety.  The  bodies  of  the  lambs  are  examined,  lest 
there  be  any  blemish.  The  right  shoulder  and  the  ham- 
strings are  cut  off  and  thrown  on  the  heap  of  offal  to  be 
burnt  with  the  wool.  The  seven  bodies  are  then  spitted, 
and  forced  into  the  hot  bake  oven.  A  trelliswork  is  then 
placed  over  the  top  of  the  oven,  which  is  covered  with 
grass  and  mud,  to  keep  in  all  the  heat.  A  few  hours  after 
sunset  they  are  withdrawn,  and  the  Samaritans,  each  "  with 
his  loins  girt  and  a  staff  in  his  hand,"  eat  hastily  and 
greedily  of  the  food  thus  prepared.     The  scraps  of  meat, 


PASSOVER.  271 

wool,  and  bone  are  carefully  sought  for,  and  burnt  on  tlie 
heap,  that  not  a  morsel  may  remain.  My  brother  has 
twice  been  present  at  the  celebration  of  the  Feast  of  the 
Passover,  and  from  him  I  obtained  the  above  description. 

The  Feast  of  Tabernacles  is  also  kept  "  in  this  mount- 
ain." It  happens  in  the  early  part  of  the  Autumn,  when 
tent-life  is  very  pleasant  and  refreshing.  The  people  "  take 
the  branches  of  goodly  trees,"  such  as  the  evergreen  oak 
and  the  arbutus,  and  they  "  make  booths,"  roofing  them 
with  interlacing  willows,  pliant  palm  fronds,  and  boughs 
of  the  glossy-leaved  citron  and  lemon  trees,  with  the 
green  fruit  hanging  from  them  in  clusters.  For  seven 
days  the  people  dwell  there,  rejoicing  and  giving  thanks 
to  God. 

Sometimes  the  Samaritans,  to  their  great  distress,  have 
been  obliged  to  celebrate  their  festivals  elsewhere,  and  in 
secret,  owing  to  the  fanaticism  and  persecuting  spirit  of 
the  Moslems  of  Nablfis.  But  Priest  Amran  said,  "Now 
that  the  English  word  has  been  spoken  for  us,  we  shall  no 
longer  fear ;  and,  notwithstanding  the  civil  war,  the  Paschal 
lamb  will  this  year  be  slain  on  the  mountain  where  our 
fathers  worshiped.  The  time  is  near  at  hand,  0  lady  I 
tarry  with  us  till  the  Passover,  and  we  will  make  a  pleas- 
ant tent  for  you  on  the  mountain,  that  you,  with  the 
Consul,  may  witness  the  celebration  of  the  festival  and 
eat  of  our  unleavened  bread." 

Most  of  the  Samaritan  women  came  to  see  me  in  my 
private  room  at  the  hotel.  Yaktib  esh  Shellabi's  sister,  a 
fine  girl — very  like  her  brother — came  several  times,  and 
Zora  grew  somewhat  sociable.  I  could  plainly  see,  by  her 
manners  and  by  her  few  words,  that  she  was  angry  with 
herself  and  with  her  absent  betrothed,  and  still  more  angry 
that  she  had  not  been  permitted  to  await  his  return.  She 
even  seemed  imbittered  against  the  English  people,  as  if 
they  had  lured  Yakub  away  from  her,  and  I  did  not  wonder 
that  this  marriage  had  given  Priest  Amran  "  much  trouble." 
The  women  do  not  hide  their  faces  from  men  of  their  own 


272  DOMESTIC  LIFE  IN  PALESTINE. 

eommunity,  but  they  vail  themselves  closely  in  the  streets 
and  in  the  presence  of  strangers. 

They  were  generally  very  simply  dressed,  in  trowsers  and 
jackets  of  Manchester  prints  and  colored  muslin  head- 
kerchiefs  and  vails.  When  out  of  doors,  they  shrouded 
themselves  in  large  white  cotton  sheets,  and,  though  the 
former  were  faded  and  the  latter  patched,  their,  poorest 
garments  looked  clean.  I  saw  very  little  jewelry,  except 
on  the  head-dresses  of  the  most  recently-married  women. 
They  nearly  all,  however,  wore  glass  bracelets;  and  some 
of  the  children  had  anklets,  made  of  tinkling  silver  bells. 
The  girls  had  a  few  small  coins  sewed  to  the  edges  of  their 
red  tarbushes,  just  in  front. 

The  Samaritans  seem  really  to  represent  one  family.  The 
people  look  to  the  hereditary  priest  as  their  father  and  di- 
vinely-appointed guide,  and  he  apparently  knows  the  his- 
tory and  character  of  every  member  of  the  community. 
He  is  king,  magistrate,  physician,  teacher,  counselor,  and 
friend  of  all.  It  struck  me  very  forcibly  that  the  Samaritans 
are  not  animated  with  any  religious  emotion  or  feeling, 
though  they  certainly  venerate  their  theological  system  and 
all  that  is  connected  with  it,  especially  the  site  of  the  an- 
cient temple  on  the  mountain  where  their  fathers  wor- 
shiped. They  attach  great  importance  to  ceremonial  and 
especially  to  sanitary  laws  relating  to  marriage,  to  food, 
and  to  ablutions.  They  observe  the  Sabbath-day  strictly, 
in  a  material  sense,  but  without  the  slightest  sign  of 
spiritual  devotion.  Their  services  are  noisy  and  seemingly 
irreverent. 

They  do  not  avoid  friendly  or  commercial  intercourse 
with  strangers,  though  they  will  not  intermarry  with  them. 
The  few  native  Protestants  in  Nablus  are  on  a  very  inti- 
mate footing  with  the  Samaritans ;  and  native  Greek  Chris- 
tians, and  many  Moslems,  are  on  good  terms  with  them. 
But  their  Jewish  neighbors  do  not  like  them  at  all.  They 
accuse  them  of  heresy  and  even  of  idolatry,  and  avoid  them 
as   much   as   possible,  saying  that  they  are  worshipers  of 


GOVERNMENT   OF  NABL^S.  273 

pigeons!  This  is  a  very  anciently-founded  calumny.  The 
Samaritans,  on  the  other  hand,  declare  that  the  Jews 
neglect  the  Law  of  Moses,  and  have  departed  from  purity 
of  life  and  worship,  and  follow  the  Talmud.  They  date 
their  separation  from  the  Jews  from  the  time  of  Eli  the 
priest,  whom  they  regard  as  a  usurper,  for  he  was  not  of 
the  priestly  family  of  Eleazar,  but  a  descendant  of  Ithamar, 
the  fourth  son  of  Aaron. 

In  1842  the  Samaritans  were  cruelly  persecuted  because 
they  would  not  embrace  the  Moslem  faith,  and  the  Moham- 
medan Ulemas  threatened  to  murder  the  whole  of  their 
community,  on  the  plea  that  they  had  no  religion,  not  even 
believing  in  one  of  the  five  inspired  books,  which  are : 
1.  Law  of  Moses;  2.  New  Testament;  3.  The  Psalms; 
4.  The  Prophets;  and  5.  The  Koran.  A  sect  which  ac- 
knowledges the  inspiration  of  any  one  of  these  five  books 
is  legally  tolerated  by  the  Mohammedans.  This  being 
known  to  the  Samaritans,  they  endeavored  to  prove  their 
belief  in  the  Pentateuch ;  but  the  Mohammedans,  not  being 
acquainted  with  the  holy  language  and  characters  in  which 
it  was  written,  disbelieved  them.  They  then  applied  to  the 
Chief  Rabbi  of  the  Jews  in  Jerusalem — a  recognized  repre- 
sentative and  head  of  the  Jewish  faith — who  gave  them  a 
written  declaration,  certifying,  "That  the  Samaritan  people 
is  a  branch  of  the  children  of  Israel,  who  acknowledge  the 
truth  of  the  Tora " — that  is,*  the  Pentateuch.  This  docu- 
ment, accompanied  with  presents,  put  an  end  to  the  perse- 
cution for  a  time.  I  mention  this  merely  to  show  in  what 
light  the  Samaritans  are  regarded  by  the  superior  and 
learned  Jews. 

Those  who  knew  Yakub  esh  Shellabi  in  England  will 
perhaps  like  to  hear  something  about  him.  He  is  the  only 
Samaritan  who  ever  traveled  so  far  west.  He  returned  to 
his  people  in  the  Autumn  of  1856,  and  soon  reaccustoraed 
himself  to  the  simple  yet  active  life  of  the  Samaritans.  He 
advised  Priest  Amran  to  establish  a  school,  and  oblige  all 
the  children  of  the  community,   both  girls   and   boys,  to 


274  DOMESTIC  LIFE   IN    PALESTINE. 

attend  it  regularly,  that  all  of  the  rising  generation  might 
be  taught  to  read  and  write  Arabic,  and  to  cast  accounts. 
Yakub  much  regretted  that  he  was  unable  to  do  either,  and 
was  too  old  to  learn.  I  am  told  that  this  school  has  been 
established,  and  is  called  the  Shellabi  School,  in  memory 
of  Yakub's  visit  to  England,  where  he  had  learned  to  set  a 
very  high  value  on  book-learning. 

He  did  not,  after  all,  marry  little  Anithe.  She  was  not 
old  enough  to  be  his  bride  immediately  on  his  return,  and 
another  arrangement  was  consequently  made,  as  the  follow- 
ing curious  specimen  of  Oriental  correspondence  will  show. 
It  was  a  reply  to  an  inquiry  concerning  Yakub,  and  is  a 
true  and  literal  translation  of  a  letter  from  Priest  Amran 
to  E.  T.  Rogers,  Esq.,  Her  Britannic  Majesty's  Vice-Con- 
sul,  Haifa: 

"To  the  perfection  of  energy,  the  most  virtuous,  and  un- 
subornable,  the  presence  of  the  most  praiseworthy  brother 
Khawadja  Rogers,  the  illustrious.  May  God  Almighty 
lengthen  his  days!     Amen. 

"After  heart-felt  prayers  for  your  preservation,  I  beg  to 
inform  you  that  I  was  honored  by  your  bountiful  letter, 
dated  the  17th  of  June,  of  Western  calculation,  collectively 
with  Daud  Tannus,*  and  we  read  with  pleasure  of  your 
preservation,  and  we  thanked  the  Almighty,  who  hath 
vouchsafed  that  you  should  think  of  us.  Your  sweet  slip 
[a  postscript]  which  was  inclosed  in  said  letter  I  have  read. 
I  find  that  you  ask  me  whether  Yakiib  esh  Shellabi  is  mar- 
ried or  not.  My  Lord,  he  has  been  married  ever  since  last 
year  to  a  very  pretty  partner,  who  is  exceedingly  good. 
Her  name  is  Shemseh  [Sunny] ;  and  last  Thursday,  the  first 
day  of  Western  July,  she  gave  birth  to  a  male  child,  who 
resembles  the  moon,  and  they  have  called  his  name  Emin 
[Faithful].  Please  God  that  this  may  happen  in  like  man- 
ner to  you.  I  have  given  you  this  glad  tidings,  which  is 
all   that  is  necessary  in  petitioning  you   to  honor  me  by  ^ 

*  The  principal  member  of  the  native  Proteatant  congregatioD  in  Nabltls. 


A   MOSLEM  WIDOW.  275 

letting  me  know  all  that  I  can  do  to  serve  you,  and  God 
lengthen  your  days!  My  Lord,  your  petitioner,  [signed 
and  sealed,]  Amran,  the  Priest.  Written  in  Nablus,  9th 
July,  Western  year,  1858." 

Another  child  has  been  born  to  Yakub,  and  I  have 
heard  him  speak  proudly,  lovingly,  and  tenderly  of  his 
little  ones,  and  of  his  young  wife  Shemseh,  and  of  the 
flourishing  Samaritan  day-school. 

A  few  days  after  my  arrival  in  Nablus,  I  was  sitting  in 
the  divan  at  the  hotel,  with  a  little  company  of  Samaritans, 
Greek  priests,  and  Protestant  Arabs,  when  a  very  poor 
Moslem  woman  forced  her  way  into  the  room,  notwithstand- 
ing that  the  kawass  and  servants  at  the  door  endeavored  to 
prevent  her  entrance.  She  cried  out,  "  Make  way !  I  must 
speak  to  the  English  lady,  the  Consul's  sister."  I  said, 
"Let  her  speak." 

She  was  almost  shrouded  in  an  old  blue-and-white  check 
linen  sheet,  of  native  manufacture.  She  was  very  aged,  and 
tottered  across  the  room  to  me,  and  then  partly  drew  aside 
her  thick  cotton  vail,  and  kissed  my  head  and  my  hands 
violently  and  impetuously,  beseeching  me  to  intercede  for 
her  son,  who  had  been  imprisoned  for  insulting  and  striking 
our  kawass  in  the  bazar. 

She  said,  "I  am  a  widow,  and  the  offender  is  my  only 
son,  my  sole  support.  Speak  for  him,  for  my  sake.  Speak 
for  him,  for  the  sake  of  the  mother  of  your  brother.  Speak 
for  him,  that  he  may  be  set  free!" 

She  kneeled  down,  and  tried  to  kiss  my  feet,  and  em- 
braced my  knees  imploringly.  I  raised  her  up,  saying,  " Go 
now  in  peace.     I  will  speak  to  the  Consul  about  your  son." 

She  went  away  rejoicing,  and  cried  aloud,  "The  gates  of 
the  prison  are  thrown  open!  The  offender,  my  son,  is  al- 
ready free;  for  the  English  word  is  spoken!" 

I  made  inquiries  about  the  prisoner,  and,  for  my  "word's 
sake,"  my  brother  applied  for  his  release,  and  before  sunset 
he  was  free. 


27$  DOMESTIC  LIFE  IN  PALESTINE. 

He  came  in  the  evening,  with  his  mother,  to  thank  me; 
for  he  had  heard  that  I  had  spoken  a  good  word  for  him. 
He  had  been  flogged,  but  looked  very  submissive,  and  well 
pleased  at  his  unexpected  and  sudden  release.  When  the 
doors  of  a  Turkish  prison  are  closed,  they  are  not  readily 
opened,  except  with  a  golden  key;  and  this  man  knew  tjiat 
his  friends  were  too  poor  to  offer  an  efficient  bribe. 

He  said  to  me,  "0  my  protectress,  in  memory  of  your 
intercession,  I  will  seek  occasion  at  all  times  to  render 
service  to  you,  and,  for  your  sake,  to  all  English  people." 
I  replied,  "Take  care  of  your  mother,  and  try  to  live  peace- 
ably with  all  men." 

They  went  away,  murmuring  blessings.  When,  a  few 
weeks  afterward,  the  Protestants  of  Nablus  were  cruelly 
attacked  by  the  Moslems,  this  man  proved  himself  a  stanch 
friend  to  them.  For  Protestants  are  regarded  as  English 
jprotegis^  even  as  the  Latins  are  looked  upon  as  French,  and 
the  Greeks  as  Russian  subjects. 

I  had  some  very  interesting  conversations  with  the 
Arab  schoolmaster  of  the  little  community  of  Protestants 
at  Nablus.  He  is  a  native  of  Nazareth,  about  thirty 
years  of  age,  the  uncle  of  our  coffee-boy  and  pipe-bearer, 
Yusef,  described  in  a  foriner  chapter.  He  was  educated 
at  the  Diocesan  School,  Jerusalem,  and  there  learned  to 
speak  English  pretty  freely.  His  foreign  accent,  peculiar 
idioms,  and  Orientally-constructed  phrases,  amused  me  ex- 
ceedingly. He  seemed  delighted  to  have  an  opportunity 
of  talking  English.  He  was  very  anxious  to  be  made 
acquainted  with  the  rules  of  domestic  life  in  England, 
and  especially  the  customs  and  laws  relating  to  betrothals, 
weddings,  divorces,  and  the  settlement  of  property.  I 
satisfied  him  on  these  points  as  well  as  I  could,  and  he, 
in  return,  gave  me  an  account  of  his  marriage.  I  will 
repeat  it,  as  nearly  as  possible,  in  his  own  words,  which 
I  noted  down  on  Sunday,  March  2d,  the  day  on  which 
he  related  it  to  me. 

"  I  shall  make  you  see  how,  in  this  country,  marriages 


THE   ARAB   SCHOOLMASTER.  277 

are  made.  Perhaps  your  English  customs  are  not  quite 
good  in  this  matter,  and  our  customs  also  are  not  good. 
It  is  belter  that  we  take  from  you  a  little,  and  that  you 
also  take  some  teachings  from  us.  I  went,  four  years  ago, 
to  Nasirah,  my  town,  for  my  espousals.  All  knew  that 
I  went  to  look  for  a  girl.  I  had  no  father;  I  had  no 
mother.  I  went  to  the  house  of  my  aunt,  the  sister  of 
my  father,  and  said,  'O  my  aunt!  seek  for  me  a  girl, 
that  I  may  be  espoused  quickly.'  And  she  said,  '  Be  at 
rest,  0  my  son!  I  know  a  good  girl  for  you;  I  shall 
speak  for  her.'  Then  my  heart  was  heavy,  because  I 
must  not  seek  and  see  her  for  myself;  and  I  said,  '0  my 
aunt!  how  can  I  do  this  thing  and  not  see  her?  Perhaps 
her  eyes  are  bad;  perhaps  she  has  manners  not  good.  I 
must  see  her.  Hide  me  that  I  may  see  her.'  My  aunt 
was  much  afraid;  but  she  loved  me,  and  she  said,  'Make 
your  heart  strong;  /  will  cheat  her  for  you.'' 

"So  she  went  out  and  sought  for  the  girl  she  wished  to 
take  for  my  wife.  She  was  the  child  of  our  neighbor; 
and  when  she  found  her  she  said,  'My  daughter,  I  seek 
you.  Come  with  me  to  my  house.  Let  us  work  together. 
I  have  a  thing  to  show  you.'  Then  I  stood  where  she 
must  come  that  way.  Her  face  had  no  vail.  She  did 
not  know  that  I  was  hid.  She  was  a  little  while  working 
and  talking  with  my  aunt.  I  saw  that  she  was  beautiful 
and  fair ;  she  was  eleven  of  age.  She  spoke  well  and 
softly,  and  her  words  were  good  words ;  and  my  heart 
went  out  of  myself  to  her.  In  a  little  while  she  came 
by  where  I  stood,  and  she  saw  that  I  was  looking  •  on 
her  with  power.  Then  her  face  came  very  red,  and  she 
ran  home  very  fast  to  her  mother,  and  my  aunt  also  went 
to  her.  And  the  girl  cried  and  said,  '  0  mother !  they 
cheat  me — they  cheat  me!'  Her  mother  gave  her  comfort, 
and  said,  'Be  at  rest,  0  my  daughter!  Now  that  he  has 
Been  you,  he  will  wish  you  for  his  wife;  he  will  take  you.' 
But  the  girl  was  full  of  anger,  and  said  again,  'It  is  not 
good  that  they  cheat  me.' 


278  DOMESTIC  LIFE   IN   PALESTINE. 

"  My  aunt  came  to  me,  and  told  me  of  her  anger  and 
her  grief,  and  said,  '  It  is  better  not  to  speak  any  more  of 
this,  and  we  will  find  another  girl.'  But  my  heart  had 
gone  forth  to  this  one,  and  I  could  not  think  for  another. 
So  I  went  to  the  Greek  priest  and  told  him  the  whole 
matter.  And  then  the  priest  went  to  the  father  of  the 
girl,  but  the  father  said,  'Not  so;  I  have  two  larger  girls; 
they  must  not  be  left;  they  must  make  their  espousals 
before  this  little  one.'  Then  I  said  to  the  priest,  'Speak 
for  me  again,  that  I  may  have  that  little  one.'  So  the 
father  made  a  writing,  and  I  put  my  seal  on  it,  and  agreed 
to  give  him  much  silks,  and  cottons,  and  soap  for  this 
daughter — more  of  all  these  things  than  he  would  make 
me  give  for  the  larger  daughters;  for  he  knew  my  heart 
was  gone  out  from  me.  I  saw  her  again,  for  not  quite 
one  minute,  when  the  espousals  were  made  and  witnessed. 
Then  my  aunt  made  a  room  ready  for  me  in  her  house, 
and  many  men  came  to  eat  with  me  there  a  good  feast. 
And  many  women  went  to  eat  with  the  girl  in  the  house 
of  her  father,  and  danced  before  her,  and  sang  songs  of 
rejoicing.  And  all  people  knew  that  we  were  espoused; 
but  I  might  not  see  her  again. 

"  Then  I  went  to  Nablus.  And,  after  a  year,  four  men, 
with  horses,  went  for  me  from  this  town  to  Nasirah,  and 
they  brought  her,  and  then  immediately  we  were  married." 

He  introduced  his  young  wife  and  her  infant  son  to  me. 
She  was  very  bright  and  cheerful-looking,  with  a  high 
color,  and  dark,  clear  eyes.  She  said  that  Nasirah  was  a 
much  better  town  than  Nablus  for  Christians  to  dwell  in. 

The  Protestant  congregation  of  Nablus  was  founded  by 
Dr.  Bowen,  the  late  lamented  Bishop  of  Sierra  Leone.  He 
established  a  loom  there,  and  gave  the  people  an  oppor- 
tunity of  working.  He  paid  them  for  their  labor,  taught 
them  many  useful  arts,  and  afterward,  by  degrees,  gave 
them  religious  instruction.  He  was  a  great  favorite  with 
all  classes,  and  many  of  the  Greek  Catholics  declared 
themselves  Protestants. 


ANTIQUITIES   OF  NABLUS.  279 

Since  Dr.  Bowen's  departure,  the  community  has  been 
very  fluctuating,  and  sometimes  quite  dispersed.  When  I 
attended  their  service  in  the  school-room,  there  were  about 
twenty  men  and  thirty  boys  present.  A  dozen  women  sat 
in  an  adjoining  room,  looking  in  and  listening  at  an  open 
arched  window.  They  were  all  closely  vailed.  The  service 
was  well  conducted  by  Michael  Kawarre,  a  native  teacher. 
The  Gospel  was  read  by  a  boy,  only  twelve  years  of  age, 
in  a  clear  though  very  monotonous  voice.  The  responses 
were  made  most  energetically. 

M.  Zeller,  a  German,  had  recently  been  appointed  by 
Bishop  Gobat  to  take  charge  of  the  community,  and  he 
was  eagerly  studying  Arabic,  that  he  might  commence  his 
missionary  labors.  He  kindly  left  his  lonely  study,  now 
and  then,  to  explore  Nablus  and  its  neighborhood  with  me. 

One  morning  we  walked  through  the  stony,  arched, 
narrow,  tortuous  streets,  out  at  the  nearest  gate,  and  rose 
on  to  the  raised  road  or  terrace,  which  nearly  encircles  the 
town.  He  led  me  to  the  hill  beyond  the  burial-ground, 
whence  I  could  see  the  whole  extent  of  Nablus,  with  its 
mosques  and  minarets,  its  irregular  groups  of  houses,  with 
domes  and  terraced  roofs,  its  dark  archways  and  colonnades, 
and  the  gardens  of  lemons  and  oranges  around.  Then  we 
climbed  a  steep  and  stony  path,  to  see  an  ancient  fountain 
and  a  reservoir  formed  of  a  sarcophagus,  where  closely- 
vailed  women  were  washing  their  tattered  garments.  A 
group  of  men  were  leisurely  building  up  the  broken  stone 
wall  of  the  water-course.  They  were  working  with  clumsy- 
looking  tools,  and  each  man  had  a  gun  slung  over  his 
shoulder. 

We  followed  the  course  of  the  duct,  which  conveys 
water  from  the  fountain  along  the  terraces  round  the  town. 
The  stones  of  the  aqueduct  were  moss-grown,  and  between 
them  bright  juicy  leaves  of  the  most  vivid  green  had. 
sprung  up.  At  short  intervals  there  were  square  apertures, 
through  which  we  could  see  the  running  limpid  water,  in 
a  frame- work   of  maiden -hair  and   other  ferns,  and  white 


280  DOMESTIC   LIFE  IN   PALESTINE. 

and  lilac  blossoms.  We  came  to  a  large  square  ancient 
pool,  or  reservoir,  well  jQlled  and  in  good  repair,  near  to 
the  governor's  new  residence,  wliicli  is  the  handsomest 
dwelling-house  I  had  seen  in  Palestine.  It  is  built  of 
well-hewn  fine  limestone,  and  enriched  with  marble  pave- 
ments, columns,  and  arches.  Mahmoud  Bek  Abdul  Hady 
designed  it  himself. 

We  reentered  the  town,  and  paused  before  the  portal  of 
the  mosque.  It  was  originally  the  entrance  to  a  Chris- 
tian church,  as  the  design  plainly  shows.  The  clustered 
columns,  the  richly-foliated  and  varied  capitals,  the  deep, 
dental,  and  zigzag  moldings  of  the  pointed  arch,  are  of 
Siculo-Norman  character.  While  we  were  carefully  exam- 
ining the  details,  signs  were  made  to  us — rather  roughly — 
by  some  of  the  guardians  of  the  mosque,  that  we  were 
approaching  too  near  to  their  place  of  worship,  and  linger- 
ing there  too  long;  so  we  retired,  and  traversed  the  bazars. 
The  shops  were  well  stocked,  and  busy  with  buyers  and 
sellers.  There  were  small  arcades  especially  devoted  to 
the  sale  of  tobacco;  others  were  filled  with  the  refreshing 
odor  of  green  lemons,  oranges,  citrons,  and  shaddocks. 
The  bazars  for  vegetables  and  prepared  food  were  rather 
difficult  to  pass  through;  they  were  thronged  with  Turkish 
soldiers  from  the  Pasha's  camp,  who  were  seeking  their 
midday  rations.  Some  of  them  were  carrying  large  metal 
dishes,  containing  a  medley  of  chopped  vegetables,  or  deep 
earthenware  plates,  filled  with  pease-pudding,  garnished 
with  slices  of  lemon  floating  in  oil;  others  hurried  through 
the  crowd  with  bowls  of  steaming  soup  before  them,  which 
very  effectually  cleared  the  way.  There  seemed  to  be  no 
friendly  feeling  between  the  soldiers  and  the  townspeople. 
Angry  voices  and  loud  cries  surrounded  us,  and  in  several 
cases  blows  were  exchanged  before  a  bargain  was  settled. 
The  long,  narrow  bazar  where  dried  fruits,  olives,  rice, 
butter,  and  cheese  were  sold,  led  us  to  the  entrance  of  an 
important  mosque,  the  exterior  of  which  is  rich  in  relics 
of  Christian  art  of  the   twelfth   century.      After   pausing 


ARAB   CUSTOM.  281 

before  it  for  a  few  minutes,  we  made  our  way  down  a 
street  almost  blocked  up  by  camels,  and  thence  passed 
into  the  principal  bazar,  the  finest  arcade  in  Palestine. 
It  is  rather  wider  and  much  more  lofty  than  the  Lowther 
Arcade,  and  about  five  or  six  times  as  long.  Here  European 
goods  are  displayed,  such  as  Manchester  prints,  Sheffield 
cutlery,  beads,  and  French  bijouterie,  very  small  mirrors, 
Bohemian  glass-bottles  for  narghiles,  Swiss  headkerchiefs, 
in  imitation  of  the  Constantinople  mundils,  crockery-ware, 
and  china  cofiee-cups.  But  the  brightest  shops  are  those 
in  which  Damascus  and  Aleppo  silks,  and  embroidered 
jackets  and  tarbushes  from  Stamboul,  appear,  with  stores 
of  Turkish  pipes,  amber  rosaries,  and  bracelets  from 
Hebron.  On  the  low  shop-counters  the  turbaned  salesmen 
squat  in  the  midst  of  the  gay  wares,  and  they  smoke  and 
gossip,  stroke  their  beards,  and  finger  their  rosaries  from 
early  in  the  morning  till  sunset. 

An  opening  in  the  middle  of  this  arcade  led  us  into 
an  extensive  khan,  well  planned,  but  so  out  of  repair  as 
to  be  almost  useless.  It  is  an  uncovered  square  space, 
inclosed  by  a  two-storied  range  of  buildings.  The  ground- 
floor  is  well  adapted  for  lodging  camels  and  other  beasts 
of  burden,  but  the  upper  chambers  are  so  dilapidated  that 
they  afford  but  little  shelter.  We  mounted  a  broken  stone 
stairway,  and  with  difficulty  reached  the  terraced  roof, 
which  commands  a  good  view  of  the  town. 

When  we  reentered  the  arcade,  we  heard  ourselves  un- 
expectedly addressed  by  name,  and,  turning  round,  we 
saw  Ody  Azam,  my  host,  in  his  little  shop,  selling  pens, 
pencils,  and  paper,  and  Birmingham  wares.  He  said  that 
the  Arabs  wondered  how  it  was  that  I  could  walk  freely 
and  unvailed  in  public  places,  adding,  "Our  women  do  not 
enter  the  bazars;  it  would  be  a  shame  for  them." 

The  chief  productions  of  Nablus  are  cotton,  olive-oil, 
and  soap.  The  latter  is  made  in  large  quantities,  and  sold 
throughout  Palestine ;  it  is  grayish-white  and  makes  a  good 
lather.     The  oil  of  Nablus  is  famous  for  its  clearness  and 

24 


282  DOMESTIC    LIFE   IN  PALESTINE. 

purity.  The  neighborhood  is  rich  in  vineyards  and  fig- 
gardens,  and  all  "precious  fruits  brought  forth  by  the  sun." 
The  people  are  much  attached  to  their  town,  and  are  very 
proud  of  it.  They  seem  to  think  there  is  no  place  in  the 
world  to  equal  it. 

When  I  returned  to  the  hotel  I  found  a  turbaned  stranger 
waiting  to  see  the  Vice-Consul.  He  introduced  himself  to 
me  as  Sheikh  Mussa.  He  wore  a  loose  olive-colored  cloth 
robe,  bordered  with  sable  fur,  and  a  purple  and  drab  striped 
satin  under-dress,  and  purple  cloth  pelisse.  He  said  he 
had  heard  that  I  could  make  faces  on  paper,  and  that, 
if  I  liked,  I  might  take  his  portrait,  on  the  condition  that 
I  would  tell  the  Consul  at  Jerusalem  that  he  had  not 
interfered  in  the  late  intrigues.  I  answered,  "I  should 
like  to  take  your  portrait;  but  how  can  I  tell  that  which 
I  do  not  know,  and  how  can  I  know  that  you  have  taken 
no  part  in  these  troubles?"  "Nevertheless,"  .he  replied, 
"take  my  portrait,  and  show  it  to  the  Consul,  Mr.  Finn, 
and  I  shall  find  favor  with  him."  He  sat  for  an  hour, 
with  his  rosary  and  pipe  in  his  hands,  most  patiently, 
and  then  went  away. 

Shortly  afterward  Mahmoud  Bek  Abdul  Hady,  the 
Grovernor,  came  in  with  my  brother.  The  former,  whom 
I  had  seen  several  times,  asked  me  many  questions  about 
my  visit  to  his  relations  at  Arrabeh.  I  showed  him  the 
sketches  I  had  made  there.  He  invited  me  to  go  to  his 
new  house,  saying  that  his  wives  had  expressed  a  wish  to 
see  me ;  but  he  added,  "  If  you  take  their  portraits,  you 
must  promise  not  to  show  them  to  any  one  in  this  country. 
You  may  show  them  in  England  to  your  friends  and  to 
the  Queen,  but  it  would  be  a  shame  for  me  that  men  in 
this  land  should  see  the  faces  of  my  women."  I  gave  my 
promise,  and  he  said,  "  It  is  well ;  the  English  word  is 
spoken.  Come  at  sunset  and  you  shall  find  welcome." 
He  said,  "Do  you  like  Arrabeh  or  Senur  better?"  I  said, 
"  I  found  greater  pleasure  at  Arrabeh,  and  I  hope  very 
much  to  see  again  the  friends  who  received  me  there  so 


GOVERNOR  OF  NABLUS.  283 

•  kindly."  He  said,  "God  be  praised  that  Arrabeh  has 
found  favor  with  you!" 

Then  he  went  away,  and  at  sunset  my  brother  accom- 
panied me  to  his  house.  Two  kawasses  and  lantern-bearers 
led  the  way.  We  were  conducted  into  a  vast  open  court, 
paved  with  marble,  and  the  governor  came  out  to  meet  us, 
and  led  me  into  the  divan,  or  reception-hall,  where  a  num- 
ber of  Moslem  gentlemen  were  assembled.  They  rose  from 
the  raised  divans,  which  were  ranged  on  three  sides  of  the 
room,  and  stood  still  till  my  brother  and  myself  had  taken 
the  places  prepared  for  us  on  the  chief  divan.  The  gov- 
ernor arranged  an  embroidered  cushion  for  me,  and  sat  by 
my  side,  and  then  said  to  the  standing  guests,  "Itfuddal" — 
a  word  of  wide  significance,  corresponding  with  the  Italian 
'•'' favori%caJ^  and  meaning,  in  this  instance,  "  Be  seated^ 

The  room  was  very  lofty.  The  white  walls  were  orna- 
mented with  blue  arabesque  borders,  painted  in  fresco.  The 
arched  windows  and  large  doorway  were  of  Saracenic  form. 
A  part  of  the  floor  was  raised  a  few  inches,  to  form  a  dais, 
and  was  spread  with  handsome  carpets,  and  in  the  center 
stood  a  tall  brass  candelabrum  supporting  an  oil  lamp.  In 
the  lower  part  of  the  room  a  number  of  servants  waited. 
They  were  the  attendants  and  lantern -bearers  of  the  several 
guests.  Richly-dressed  Abyssinian  slaves  handed  round  the 
cofiee,  flavored  with  ambergris,  and  others  carried  silver 
trays  of  sweetmeats.  A  costly  narghile,  the  mouthpiece  of 
which  was  set  with  diamonds  and  sapphires,  was  brought 
for  me. 

I  had  expected  to  be  conducted  only  to  the  harem,  and 
was  rather  taken  by  surprise  on  being  ushered  into  the 
midst  of  this  company.  I  did  not  venture,  in  the  presence 
of  men,  to  speak  to  Mahmoud  Bek  about  his  wives,  for  it 
is  not  considered  delicate  to  do  so,  and  my  brother  could 
on  no  account  allude  to  the  object  of  my  visit.  I  waited 
impatiently  for  a  long  time,  hoping  that  a  messenger  would 
come  for  me. 

In  the  mean  time  an  interesting  discussion  on  civilization 


284  DOMESTIC  LIFE  IN  PALESTINE. 


and  life  in  towns  and  villages  and  tents  was  carried  on. 
Our  host  showed  us  a  plan  for  the  completion  of  his  house, 
and  asked  my  advice  about  the  interior  decorations  and 
details.  He  had  evidently  a  strong  natural  taste  and  talent 
for  architectural  construction,  and  was  a  good  judge  of 
building  materials.  He  told  me  that  he  could  judge 
whether  stone  was  of  a  durable  nature  or  not,  by  its  taste. 
I  have  often  seen  an  Arab  touch  newly-quarried  stone  with 
the  tip  of  his  tongue,  and  I  suppose  that  he  could  by  this 
means  ascertain  its  quality.  There  are  some  fine  quarries 
in  Palestine,  but  the  stone  generally  preferred  by  builders 
is  that  which  is  brought  from  the  ruins  of  some  ancient 
building,  and  which  has  already  stood  the  test  of  centuries. 

More  than  an  hour  passed,  and  still  I  had  no  summons 
to  the  harem.  I  said  to  Mahmoud  softly,  "  I  came  to-night 
in  consequence  of  your  especial  invitation ;"  he  answered, 
"I  am  greatly  honored  by  your  presence,  0  my  lady!  you 
have  given  me  great  pleasure,  and  I  have  profited  by  your 
words  and  your  counsel — this  room,  which  no  woman  has 
ever  before  entered,  is  yours." 

A  special  messenger  from  the  Pasha  came  to  seek  my 
brother,  and  we  took  leave  of  Mahmoud  Bek.  He  attended 
us  to  the  outer  door  with  much  deference  and  a  great  many 
compliments,  but  he  did  not  make  the  slightest  effort  to 
detain  me  to  visit  his  harem.  I  suppose  he  was  afraid  that 
I  should  "reveal  the  secrets  of  his  prison-house,"  or  on 
consideration  he  may  have  thought  it  actually  dangerous 
for  any  of  his  ladies  to  have  their  portraits  taken.  It  was 
rumored  that  he  had  recently  married  a  very  beautiful  girl, 
and  that  in  his  establishment  there  were  some  fair  young 
slaves  from  Constantinople.  The  fact  was,  I  believe,  I  had 
answered  his  many  questions  about  my  sojourn  at  Arrabeh 
rather  too  unreservedly,  and  had  unwisely  showed  him  the 
portrait  of  his  cousin  Saleh's  pretty  wife  Helweh.  I  was 
always  on  my  guard  afterward  under  similar  circumstances. 
This  governor,  Mahmoud  Bek,  was  an  elderly  man  with  a 
long  gray  beard.     He  was  full   of  energy  and  enterprise, 


285 

and  appeared  clever,  penetrating,  and  shrewd,  but  obstinate 
and  tyrannical,  and  was  the  head  of  a  very  troublesome 
faction. 

The  next  morning  Sheikh  Mussa  came  that  I  might  finish 
his  portrait.  He  said,  "They  are  idiots  and  'majnfini' 
who  believe  that  a  man  is  in  danger  of  losing  his  soul  if  a 
resemblance  of  him  be  made  on  paper  with  lines  of  a  pencil 
point — but  it  is  not  well  to  make  him  of  wood  or  to  carve 
him  in  stone."  He  added,  "  In  this  land  there  is  much 
ignorance  and  folly,  but  we  must  hold  our  peace,  for  if  we 
speak  the  thoughts  of  our  hearts  to  fools  they  will  say,  '  It 
is  your  folly  and  not  ours — we  are  wise — ye  arc  fools  who 
doubt  our  wisdom.'  Thus  the  wise  hold  their  peace  and 
the  foolish  ones  of  the  earth  are  made  proud  and  strong  in 
their  folly.     Thus  it  is  decreed." 

The  afternoon  was  especially  bright  and  balmy,  and  my 
brother  spared  time  to  ride  out  with  me  in  company  with 
M.  Zeller  and  a  few  Protestant  Arabs.  We  passed  out  of 
the  town  at  the  east  gate  and  went  down  the  Nabliis  valley 
in  a  south-easterly  direction,  with  Mount  Ebal  on  our  left 
and  Mount  Gerizim,  nearer  to  us,  on  our  right;  the  former 
looked  rather  rugged  and  bare,  but  the  latter  was  here 
and  there  clothed  with  trees  and  herbage.  Pointing  to 
a  tree  growing  far  above  us,  Ody  Azam  said,  "  That  old 
olive-tree  is  the  largest  in  the  whole  country;  its  trunk  is 
so  thick,  that  if  four  tall  men  joined  hands,  they  could  not 
entirely  embrace  it." 

We  crossed  and  recrossed  winding  streams  and  artificial 
water-courses,  in  the  gardens  and  cultivated  fields  of  the 
winding  valley.  After  half  an  hour's  ride  we  paused  and 
alighted  by  an  isolated  and  fallen  granite  column,  half 
buried  in  the  earth,  at  the  foot  of  Mount  Gerizim.  Near 
to  it  was  a  pit,  almost  filled  up  with  rubbish  and  earth,  and 
encircled  with  large  hewn  stones — "Now,  Jacob's  well  was 
there."  My  brother  drew  my  attention  to  it,  saying,  "It 
was  to  show  you  this  choked-up  fountain  that  I  brought 
you  here  to-day  j    for  Jews,   Samaritans,   Christians,   and 


286  DOMESTIC  LIFE  IN  PALESTINE. 

Moslems  all  agree  in  associating  the  name  of  tlie  Patriarch 
Jacob  with  this  spot.  To  Christians  it  is  especially  inter- 
esting as  the  scene  of  Christ's  interview  with  the  woman 
of  Samaria^  when  'He  being  wearied  with  his  journey /rom 
Judea  sat  thus  by  the  well  at  midday  while  his  disciples 
went  up  the  valley  into  the  city  to  buy  meat.'  And  we  are 
now  sitting  under  the  shadow  of  Gerizim,  of  which  the 
woman  spoke  when  she  said,  '  Sir,  our  fathers  worshiped 
in  this  mountain ;  and  ye  say,  that  in  Jerusalem  is  the 
place  where  men  ought  to  worship.'  And  from  this  well- 
side  Christ's  memorable  answer  was  given — '  God  is  a  spirit, 
and  they  that  worship  him  must  worship  him  in  spirit  and 
in  truth.' " 

The  outlines  of  the  surrounding  hills  were  sharply  de- 
fined against  a  sky  intensely  blue;  the  large  village  called 
Tulluzah,  supposed  to  be  the  ancient  and  "  comely  Tirzah," 
half-way  up  Mount  Ebal,  was  pointed  out  to  me.  Its 
houses  were  scarcely  distinguishable  from  the  masses  of 
rock  and  the  great  stone  bowlders  on  the  rugged  slopes. 
Terraced  vineyards  and  fine  olive-groves  nearly  encircle 
the  village  and  mark  its  limits. 

Flourishing  fruit  gardens  and  groves  skirt  the  base  of 
the  mountains,  and  groups  of  evergreen  oaks  stand  here 
and  there.  The  plain  and  the  valley  were  vividly  green 
with  wheat  and  barley,  beans  and  lentils.  Bright  wild 
flowers  garnished  the  low  stone  walls  or  landmarks  be- 
tween them.  It  was  the  5th  of  March,  and  we  could  con- 
sequently say,  "  There  are  yet  two  months. and  then  cometh 
the  harvest."  It  must  have  been  earlier  in  the  Spring 
when  Christ  beheld  this  landscape  and  said  to  his  disciples, 
*'  Lift  up  your  eyes  and  look  upon  the  fields."  He  spoke 
figuratively — but   these   very  fields   suggested  the   figure. 

Though  quite  half  an  hour's  walk  from  the  town,  this 
well  must  have  been  a  favorite  place  of  resort  of  the 
children  of  Israel,  from  the  time  when  he  gave  it  to  them, 
and  drank  thereof  himself,  and  his  children,  and  his  cattle. 
When  the  woman  of  Samaria  said  to  Christ,  "  Sir,  the  well 


SOUNDING  THE  WELL.  287 

is  deep,"  she  spoke  truly.  It  is  a  circular  shaft  cut  out 
of  the  solid  rock,  and  when  it  was  measured  a  few  years 
ago  it  was  found  to  be  seventy-five  feet  deep,  and  yet  the 
true  bottom  of  the  well  was  not  then  reached  on  account 
of  the  accumulation  of  mud.  Yakub  esh  Shellabi,  when 
a  boy,  was  let  down  into  this  well,  and  I  have  often  heard 
him  describe  his  descent.  An  account  of  it  was  published 
in  a  little  book  called,  "  Notices  of  the  Modern  Samaritans, 
illustrated  by  incidents  in  the  life  of  Yakiib  esh  Shellabi, 
gathered  from  him  and  translated  by  Mr.  E.  T.  Kogers  " — 
my  brother.  I  will  give  the  extract  which  records  the  cir- 
cumstance, for  I  do  not  suppose  that  any  one  living  has 
ever  been  down  that  well  except  Yakiib.  He  was  exactly 
twelve  years  old  at  the  time. 

"In  the  year  1841,  a  Scotch  gentleman,  named  Dr.  Wil- 
son, arrived  in  Nablus,  and  made  great  inquiries  for  Jacob's 
Well,  and  having  found  out  the  exact  spot,  he  hired  ten 
strong  men  and  myself  to  accompany  him  thither;  and  in 
passing  through  the  bazar  he  purchased  four  camel  ropes. 
I  could  not  understand  all  this  preparation,  but  on  arriv- 
ing at  the  mouth  of  the  well  I  soon  discovered  the  reason. 
It  appeared  that  one  of  the  Scotch  missionaries*  had  some 
years  ago  dropped  his  Bible  into  the  well,  which  Dr.  Wil- 
son was  now  so  anxious  to  extricate.  The  men  were  soon 
set  to  work  to  remove  the  huge  stones  from  the  mouth  of 
the  well,  and  I  was  chosen,  as  being  of  light  weight,  to  be 
lowered  down  for  the  search. 

"I  was  much  afraid  at  first;  however,  I  consented,  upon 
some  consolatory  words,  and  pecuniary  persuasion,  and  a 
promise  to  take  me  to  England  made  by  Dr.  Wilson.  The 
rope  was  therefore  tied  round  my  waist,  and  I  swung 
round — having  no  means  of  steadying  myself — till  I  was 
quite  giddy  and  faint  from  the  impurity  of  the  air.  The 
four  camel  ropes  were  joined  together,  and  still  I  had  not 
reached  the  bottom;  two  shawls,  which  composed  the  turbans 
of  two  Samaritans  who  were  with  us,  were  then  tied  to  the 

*  The  Rev.  Andrew  Bonar,  of  Callace. 


288  DOMESTIC   LIFE  IN  PALESTINE. 

end  of  the  rope,  and  by  that  means  I  alighted  safely,  but 
much  frightened  and  overcome.  The  bottom  of  the  well 
was  muddy,  but  no  water  was  there  at  this  time,  as  the 
spring  was  dry.  Dr.  Wilson  had  given  me  two  beautiful 
white  candles  and  a  small  box  of  sticks.  The  sticks  were 
for  the  purpose  of  making  a  light.  This  was  the  first  in- 
troduction of  lucifer  matches  into  Nablfis.  I  had  seen  Dr. 
Wilson  make  use  of  one,  up  above  in  the  open  air,  and  was 
much  surprised;  but  now,  down  in  this  dark  place,  upon 
striking  the  end  of  one  against  the  rough  side  of  the  box, 
I  was  amazed  at  the  report  and  ignition,  and  made  up  my 
mind  not  to  waste  any,  but  to  keep  the  box  carefully  in 
my  pocket,  and  I  thought  that  this  box  alone  would  fully 
compensate  for  my  trouble  in  coming  down.  I  had  been 
told  to  remove  all  the  stones  from  the  east,  and  to  place 
them  westward,  and  then  to  return  them  to  their  original 
position,  and  to  place  in  the  east  those  from  the  west;  and 
in  executing  the  latter  command,  I  found  a  dirty  little 
book,  about  six  inches  long  by  four  inches  broad,  and 
three-quarters  of  an  inch  thick.  Dr.  Wilson  shouted  down 
from  the  mouth  of  the  well  several  times,  '  Have  you  found 
it?'  The  same  answer,  'No,'  was  continued  for  some  time; 
but  now  I  did  not  exactly  know  how  to  answer.  '  This 
could  not  be  the  book,'  I  thought,  'for  the  recovery  of 
which  he  had  expended  so  much  labor  and  money;  and 
yet  it  might  be,  if  it  were  a  book  of  necromancy  for  guid- 
ing him  to  hidden  treasures.'  When  Dr.  Wilson  heard 
that  I  had  found  something,  he  caused  me  to  be  hauled 
up,  and  welcomed  me  and  my  treasure,  which  I  felt  almost 
ashamed  to  give  him ;  yet  he  was  much  delighted,  patting 
me  on  liiy  back,  and  paying  all  the  men  as  well  as  myself 
very  handsomely. 

"He  wrapped  the  Bible  in  a  handkerchief,  and  deposited 
it  in  his  breast-pocket  most  carefully.  It  was  currently 
believed  that  this  was  a  book  of  necromancy,  just  as  it 
had  struck  me  in  the  well." 

After  lingering  for  some  time  by  the  well-side,  we  rode 


TOMB   OF   JOSEPH.  289 

across  the  fields  to  the  center  of  the  mouth  of  the  valley, 
where,  nearly  due  north  of  the  well,  there  is  a  square 
space,  surrounded  by  high,  plastered,  whitewashed  stone 
walls.  We  dismounted,  and,  passing  one  by  one  through 
a  narrow  opening,  we  stood  within  the  inclosure.  In  the 
center  is  a  clumsy-looking  tomb,  about  three  feet  high  and 
six  feet  long.  The  top  terminates  in  a  bluntly- pointed  ridge. 
At  the  head  and  at  the  foot  a  rude  stone  pillar,  the  same 
hight  as  the  tomb,  is  set  up  on  the  floor.  There  are  many 
niches  in  the  walls  for  small  lamps,  and  they  are  lighted 
during  certain  festivals,  and  by  devotees  on  particular  occa- 
sions. The  walls  are  almost  covered  with  inscriptions  in 
Hebrew,  Samaritan,  and  Arabic;  some,  which  were  deeply 
engraved,  seem  to  have  been  written  more  than  two  hundred 
years  ago.  Modern  European  travelers,  too,  have  left  their 
names  there.  This  is  supposed  to  be  the  tomb  of  Joseph. 
It  is  recorded  that  when  he  was  on  his  death-bed  he 
exacted  a  promise  from  his  sons  that  they  would  carry 
him  into  the  land  given  to  Abraham  and  his  seed  forever. 
So,  when  he  died,  "they  embalmed  him,  and  put  him  in 
a  coffin  in  Egypt."  And  again  it  is  written,  "The  bones 
of  Joseph,  which  the  children  of  Israel  brought  up  out 
of  Egypt,  buried  they  in  Shechem,  in  a  parcel  of  ground 
which  Jacob  bought  of  the  sons  of  Hamor,  the  father  of 
Shechem,  for  an  hundred  pieces  of  silver:  and  it  became 
the  inheritance  of  the  children  of  Joseph."  A  vine  was 
trailing  over  the  northern  wall,  and  I  gathered  a  few  of  its 
tender  leaves  and  tendrils ;  and  the  wild  campion,  white 
and  red,  flourished  round  the  tomb. 

We  then  rode  toward  Nablus  up  the  middle  of  the 
valley.  Clouds  were  gathering  in  the  west  over  the  sea, 
all  tinged  with  ruddy  golden  light  from  the  seiting  sun. 
A  small  tower  on  Mount  Gerizim  marks  the  spot  where 
the  Feast  of  the  Passover  is  kept  and  the  Paschal  Lamb 
slain.  As  we  approached  the  town  we  saw  a  large  con- 
course of  Moslem  boys  playing  at  hockey,  or  some  similar 
game,  on  a  broad,  smooth  plot  of  ground  just  outside  the 

26 


290  DOMESTIC   LIFE   IN   PALESTINE. 

eastern  gate;  and  while  we  paused  to  watch  the  skillful 
players  we  heard  shouts,  and  screams,  and  war-cries  from 
within  the  walls.  We  hastened  in,  and  found  that  a 
sudden  excitement  had  seized  the  Moslems  in  one  quarter 
of  the  town.  "We  inquired  the  cause,  and  were  told  by 
a  Moslem  that  news  had  arrived  that  the  surrounding 
villages  were  up  in  arms  and  preparing  to  attack  Nablils. 
This  we  found  afterward  was  an  impromptu  fabrication  to 
deceive  us;  the  real  cause  of  the  uproar  was  a  report  that 
a  Christian  had  killed,  injured,  or  insulted  a  Moslem. 

Fortunately  the  false  impression  was  removed  before 
any  mischief  was  done;  but  the  loud,  angry  voices  of  the 
groups  of  men,  and  even  women,  in  the  street,  convinced 
me  for  the  first  time  of  the  hazardous  position  of  Chris- 
tians when  the  fanaticism  of  the  lower  class  of  Moslems  is 
fully  roused.  We  rode  unmolested  through  the  gathering 
crowds,  not  suspecting  that  a  general  massacre  of  the 
Christians  was  actually  then  being  proposed.  We  did  not 
understand  the  facts  of  the  case  till  we  reached  the  hotel, 
when  the  tumult  had  quite  subsided,  in  consequence  of  the 
discovery  that  it  was  a  Christian  and  not  a  Moslem  who 
had  been  slightly  injured.  I  could  see  that  a  trifling 
provocation,  real  or  imaginary,  might  at  any  moment  lead 
to  bloodshed;  yet  I  did  not  entertain  any  fears  for  myself 
or  for  my  brother.  I  felt  perfectly  safe  there  without  well 
knowing  why.  A  party  of  Moslem  gentlemen  spent  the 
evening  with  us,  and  seemingly,  though  not  avowedly,  they 
did  all  in  their  power  to  remove  any  unfavorable  impression 
which  I  might  have  received  from  witnessing  the  momentary 
excitement  at  sunset. 

On  the  following  day,  the  6th  of  March,  we  called 
on  Michael  Kawarre,  the  native  Protestant  catechist  and 
teacher.  His  brother  was  the  Prussian  Consular  Agent, 
and  their  father,  Samaan  Kawarre,  and  his  friends,  received 
us  very  cordially,  in  a  small  but  pretty  vaulted  chamber, 
with  low,  carpeted,  and  cushioned  divans  on  three  sides. 
A  large   shallow   dish,   containing   at   least   two    hundred 


LITTLE   ZAHRA  AND   THE   VIOLETS.  291 

bundles  of  freshly-gathered  blue  violets,  stood  on  a  low 
stool  in  the  center  of  the  matted  floor,  and  filled  the  air 
with  their  pleasant  odor.  I  expressed  my  admiration  of 
these  flowers  to  Samaan,  and  he  said,  "  Lady,  I  will  bring 
you  a  sweeter  and  more  precious  flower."  He  went  away, 
and  presently  returned  with  his  little  granddaughter,  Zahra, 
which  signifies  flower,  held  lovingly  in  his  arms.  She 
was  a  pretty  child  of  about  four  years  of  age,  but  as 
serious  and  composed  as  a  woman.  She  wore  smooth, 
ruby-colored  glass  bracelets  on  her  wrists,  which  had 
been  put  on  many  months  before,  and  were  now  too  small 
to  pass  over  her  chubby  little  hands. 

These  glass  bracelets  are  often  obliged  to  be  carefully 
broken  before  they  can  be  removed  from  the  arms  of  young 
children,  for  they  are  simple  rings  of  various  colors,  and 
made  without  any  fastening. 

I  asked  Zahra  where  the  violets  grew.  She  said,  "They 
came  up  out  of  the  ground  under  the  lemon-trees,  for  the 
ladies.     They  come  only  now,  they  are  not  there  always." 

I  said,  "What  do  the  ladies  do  with  the  violets?"  "The 
ladies  put  them  in  their  head-dresses,  and  are  glad,  because 
they  have  a  sweet  smell."  But  one  of  the  guests  said, 
"The  little  one  has  not  yet  learned  that  these  flowers  are 
dried  in  the  sun,  and  then  used  for  making  tea  for  those 
who  are  sick  of  fever." 

As  we  left  the  house,  one  said  to  us,  "Come  into  the 
garden  where  the  violets  grow."  We  followed  him,  and 
went  into  a  spacious  inclosure,  where  lemon,  citron,  orange, 
and  quince  trees  made  a  pleasant  shade,  and  apple  and 
almond  trees  were  full  of  blossoms.  The  ground  was  com- 
pletely carpeted  with  the  clustering  heart-shaped  leaves  of 
the  violet,  and  sprinkled  with  its  blue  blossoms.  I  have 
seen  them  in  our  own  wild-wood  walks,  crowding  lovingly 
together  in  groups,  or  springing  up  round  the  trunks  of 
ancient  trees,  but  I  never  saw  such  a  profusion  of  these 
sweet  flowers  as  I  did  then  in  that  Nablus  garden.  We 
could  not  move  a  step  without  crushing  the  tender  leaves 


292  DOMESTIC    LIFE   IN   PALESTINE. 

beneath  our  feet.  We  were  led  into  tlie  center  of  the 
garden,  where  a  very  large  square  pool  or  reservoir  had 
been  made,  with  a  stone  parapet  round  it.  On  the  south 
side  there  was  a  pleasant  vaulted  stone  chamber,  with  a 
wide-spreading  archway  opening  close  on  to  the  edge  of 
the  pool.  Here  carpets  and  cushions  were  spread,  and  cof- 
fee and  pipes,  sherbets,  and  fruit  and  flowers  were  brought 
for  us. 

This  is  the  beau-ideal  of  Oriental  afternoon  enjoyment — 
a  lulling  narghile  in  an  arched  recess,  near  to  a  pool  or 
stream  of  sparkling  water — in  the  midst  of  a  fruit  garden, 
carpeted  with  violets,  in  the  Spring — and  with  white  ever- 
lasting flowers  in  the  Summer  and  Autumn.  These  delights 
are  the  chief  subjects  of  many  of  the  modern  Arab  songs 
and  poems. 

Before  sunset  we  traversed  the  town  from  one  end  to  the 
other,  and  went  to  the  house  of  Daud  Tannus,  the  chief 
member  of  the  Protestant  community  in  Nablus,  where  we 
had  been  invited  to  dine.  We  were  led  up  a  crooked,  open 
stone  stairway,  to  an  irregular  uneven  court,  into  which 
several  rooms  and  a  kitchen  opened.  In  the  latter  the 
mistress  of  the  house  and  women-servants  were  busy  in  the 
midst  of  savory  odors.  They  stood  in  the  wide  doorway, 
half  hiding  their  faces,  and  looking  shyly  at  us  as  we 
passed  to  the  guest-chamber.  Monthly  roses  and  carnations 
in  full  blossom,  planted  in  large,  broken,  red-clay  water- 
jars,  turned  upside  down,  stood  on  each  side  of  the  entrance 
steps.  The  room  was  large,  though  not  lofty — raised  divans 
covered  with  Manchester  prints  were  on  three  sides  of  it, 
and  a  musketo-curtained  bed  on  the  other.  Fifteen  of  our 
Nablus  friends  were  assembled  there  to  meet  us,  and  among 
them  M.  Zeller,  but  no  women  appeared. 

While  we  were  seated  on  the  divan,  one  of  the  guests 
said  to  me  in  broken  English,  "Your  friendship  with  your 
brother,  the  Consul,  has  already  become  a  proverb  in  this 
city."  "How  so?"  I  inquired.  He  explained:  "To-day 
I  heard  people  angrily  talking  and  crying  near  my  house, 


BROTHERS  AND  SISTERS.  293 

and  they  made  a  great  noise,  and  I  rose  and  went  to  the 
door  of  my  house,  and  a  man  named  Yusef  came  that  way, 
and  I  said,  'What  was  the  reason  of  that  noise?'  and  he 
replied,  'Only  two  women  disputing  and  fighting;  but  they 
have  now  made  peace,  and  they  have  sworn  to  each  other 
a  friendship  like  unto  the  friendship  of  the  English  Consul 
and  his  sister!'"  I  said,  "Is  it  then  in  this  land  reck- 
oned a  strange  thing  that  a  brother  and  sister  should  be 
great  friends?" 

Another  guest,  a  thoughtful  and  intelligent  man,  to  whom 
my  question  was  repeated  in  Arabic,  replied,  "People  in 
this  country  are  naturally  surprised  that  you  can  journey 
with  the  Consul,  share  his  pursuits  and  the  dangers  to 
which  he  may  be  exposed,  and  be  really  and  truly  his 
companion.  It  is  a  thing  not  understood  here,  where  the 
education  of  men  and  women  difi'ers  so  greatly,  and  where 
brothers  and  sisters  see  but  little  of  each  other  after  their 
childhood,  except  when  the  father  of  a  family  dies — for 
then  the  eldest  son  becomes  the  guardian  of  his  widowed 
mother  and  of  his  brothers  and  sisters.  But  the  latter  are 
married  early,  and  then  he  has  no  more  charge  concerning 
them.  Our  women  marvel  greatly  among  themselves  that 
you  have  left  your  country  and  your  home  to  travel  with 
the  Consul,  while  your  parents  are  yet  living,  and  they 
conclude  that  you  must  have  a  strong  friendship  for  each 
other." 

And  a  third  spoke  and  said,  "Thou  hast  spoken  truly, 
yet  let  it  be  known  also  to  our  English  sister,  that  our 
women  and  girls  rejoice  greatly  when  they  have  many 
brothers,  and  it  is  their  pride  and  delight  to  hear  their 
friends  say,  'Happy  art  thou,  0  sister  of  seven  men;  may 
they  soon  be  married,  and  may  you  live  to  see  their  chil- 
dren's children !'  And  it  is  said  that  a  woman  sometimes 
regards  the  life  of  her  brother  as  more  precious  than  her 
own,  or  than  that  of  her  husband,  or  her  son. 

"  When  Ibrahim  Pasha,  the  son  of  Mehemet  Ali,  ruled  in 
Palestine,  he  sent  men  into   all   the  towns  and  villages  to 


294  DOMESTIC  LIFE  IN  PALESTINE.  . 

gather  together  a  large  army.  Then  a  certain  woman  of 
Sefurieh  sought  Ibrahim  Pasha  at  'Akka,  and  came  into 
his  presence,  bowing  herself  before  him,  and  said,  '0  my 
lord,  look  with  pity  on  thy  servant,  and  hear  my  prayer. 
A  little  while  ago  there  were  three  men  in  my  house — my 
husband,  my  brother,  and  my  eldest  son.  But  now,  behold, 
they  all  have  been  carried  away  to  serve  in  your  army,  and 
I  am  left  with  my  little  ones  without  a  protector;  I  pray 
you  grant  liberty  to  one  of  these  men,  that  he  may  remain 
at  home.' 

"And  Ibrahim  had  pity  on  her,  and  said,  'O  woman! 
do  you  ask  for  your  husband,  for  your  son,  or  for  your 
brother?' 

"She  said,  '0  my  lord,  give  me  my  brother!'  and  he  an- 
swered, 'How  is  this,  0  woman — do  you  prefer  a  brother 
to  a  husband  or  a  son?' 

"The  woman,  who  was  renowned  for  her  wit  and  readi- 
ness of  speech,  replied  in  an  impromptu  rhyme: 

"  '  If  it  be  God's  will  that  my  husband  perish  in  your  service, 
I  am  still  a  woman,  and  God  may  lead  me  to  another  husband. 
If  on  the  battle-field  my  first-born  son  should  fall, 
I  have  still  my  younger  ones  who  will  in  God's  time  be  like  unto  him. 
But,  0  my  lord,  if  my  only  brother  should  be  slain, 
I  am  without  remedy — for  my  father  is  dead  and  my  mother  la  old, 
And  where  should  I  look  for  another  brother  ?' 

"And  Ibrahim  was  much  pleased  with  the  words  of  the 
woman,  and  said,  *0  woman!  happy  above  many  is  thy 
brother;  he  shall  be  free  for  thy  word's  sake,  and  thy 
husband  and  son  shall  be  free  also.'  Then  the  woman 
could  not  speak  for  joy  and  gladness.  And  Ibrahim  said, 
*Go  in  peace — but  let  it  not  be  known  that  I  have  spoken 
with  you  this  day.' 

"Then  she  arose  and  went  her  way  to  her  village,  trust- 
ing in  the  promise  of  the  Pasha.  After  three  days,  her 
husband,  and  son,  and  brother  returned  to  her,  saying,  'We 
are  free  from  service,  by  order  of  the  Pasha,  but  this  mat- 
ter is  a  mystery  to  us.'  And  all  the  neighbors  marveled 
greatly.     But  the  woman  held  her  peace,  and  this  story 


DINNER  SERVED.  295, 

did  not  become  known  till  Ibrahim's  departure  from  'Akka, 
after  the  overthrow  of  the  Egyptian  Government  in  Syria, 
in  1840." 

Several  similar  anecdotes  were  related  while  preparations 
for  dinner  were  being  made.  A  large  circular  tray  was 
brought  in,  and  placed  on  a  stand,  raised  about  six  inches 
from  the  matted  floor,  in  the  middle  of  the  rooin.  Our 
kawass,  and  the  servants  and  attendants  of  the  guests, 
acted  as  waiters.  They  bustled  backward  and  forward 
across  the  court,  from  the  door  of  the  kitchen  to  the  table, 
which  was  soon  covered  with  steaming,  yellow  mounds  of 
rice,  crowned  with  limbs  of  fowls  and  morsels  of  lamb. 
A  large  wooden  bowl — containing  a  medley  of  rice,  minced 
mutton,  raisins,  pine-seeds,  and  butter — stood  in  the  center, 
and  was  surrounded  by  plates  of  vegetables. 

After  water  had  been  poured  on  our  hands,  we  gathered 
round  the  board,  and  took  our  places,  in  Oriental  fashion, 
on  the  floor.  A  damask  napkin,  about  half  a  yard  wide 
and  ten  yards  long,  was  passed  round  in  front  of  the 
assembled  guests,  and  rested  on  their  knees.  Its  gold- 
embroidered  and  fringed  ends  met  where  I  was  seated, 
between  our  host,  Dai1d  Tannus,  and  my  brother.  Flat 
cakes,  or  loaves  of  bread,  were  distributed,  and  we  ate  in 
primitive  style,  for  neither  knives,  nor  forks,  nor  spoons 
appeared.  Deep  impressions  were  soon  made  in  the  mounds 
of  rice,  and  by  degrees  the  dishes  were  carried  away,  and 
replaced  by  others,  containing  sweet  starch  and  creams, 
stewed  apricots,  and  preserves. 

We  left  the  table,  one  after  another,  and  performed  the 
customary  ablutions  in  due  order.  When  we  had  reseated 
ourselves  on  the  divan,  coffee  and  pipes  were  served,  and 
lamps  were  lighted.  The  table  was  carried  out  into  the 
open  court,  and  two  or  three  bowls  of  rice  being  added  to 
the  dishes  we  had  left,  the  numerous  attendants  and  serv- 
ants of  the  house  took  their  evening  meal  there  together 
by  lantern-light,  forming  a  study  for  a  Rembrandt. 

I  went  into  an  adjoining  room  for  a  few  minutes,  to  see 


296  DOMESTIC  LIFE  IN   PALESTINE. 

the  ladies  of  the  house,  and  the  neighbors  who  were  with 
them.  They  received  me  very  kindly,  but  with  a  little 
shyness.  One  said  to  me,  "  I  hope  you  have  made  a  good 
dinner — we  have  nothing  here  fit  to  offer  you — we  are  only 
simple  people,  and  can  not  serve  you  as  we  should  like  to 
do."  I  said,  "  I  very  much  enjoyed  that  which  your 
hands — peace  be  upon  them — prepared  so  nicely;  but  I 
should  have  enjoyed  it  still  more  if  you,  0  my  sisters,  had 
eaten  with  us."  They  seemed  quite  amused  at  the  idea, 
and  some  of  them  blushed  and  laughed  heartily.  One  of 
the  elder  women"  said  seriously,  "  It  is  not  our  custom,  O 
my  daughter,  to  eat  with  men — it  would  be  a  shame  for 
us."  And  a  young  girl  exclaimed,  "  0  lady,  the  bread  and 
meat  would  choke  us,  if  we  took  it  in  the  midst  of  a  com- 
pany of  men."  I  took  leave  of  the  women,  and  returned 
to  the  divan,  and  at  about  eight  o'clock  the  guests  sepa- 
rated, for  genuine  Oriental  dinner-parties  are  never  late 
entertainments. 

Daud  Tannus  gathered  his  finest  roses  and  carnations 
for  us,  and  we  walked  home  through  the  narrow  streets, 
attended  by  lantern- bearers  and  several  friends. 

In  the  mean  time,  preparations  had  been  made  for  my 
journey  to  Jerusalem.  The  Consul,  Mr.  Finn,  had  sent 
his  Hebrew  dragoman  and  his  head  kawass  to  fetch  me, 
that  my  brother  might  be  free  to  follow  Kamil  Pasha, 
without  anxiety,  wherever  he  might  go.  It  was  expected 
that  the  Pasha  would  visit  all  the  rebellious  villages,  and 
perhaps  besiege  some  of  them,  in  which  case  he  might  be 
absent  from  Nablus  for  many  days.  Under  these  circum- 
stances, I  had  no  alternative,  and  immediately  made  ready 
for  starting  early  on  the  morrow. 

Till  a  late  hour,  friends  and  neighbors,  of  all  sects  and 
classes,  came  in  to  take  leave  of  me,  and  to  wish  me  a 
prosperous  and  safe  journey.  The  Moslems  especially  mar- 
veled that  I  could  venture  to  travel  so  far  without  my 
brother.  They  said,  "  May  God  make  a  straight  path  for 
you  on  his  earth  I" 


TO   JERUSALEM.      *  ^7 


CHAPTER   XI. 

FROM  NABLUS    TO   JERUSALEM. 

I  WOKE  early  on  the  following  morning,  Friday,  March 
7th,  with  an  unusual  sense  of  oppression  and  sudden  fear, 
as  if  I  had  some  very  sad  or  difl&cult  task  to  perform  that 
day.  The  packed  portmanteaus  and  the  riding-habit,  in 
readiness  by  my  side,  instantly  brought  to  my  recollection 
the  plans  for  my  journey  to  Jerusalem — a  journey  of  about 
thirteen  hours,  and  generally  made  in  two  stages,  but 
which  I  had  determined  to  accomplish  in  one,  as  there  is 
not"  a  good  halting-place  on  the  road,  nor  any  village  in 
which  I  should  have  been  willing  to  seek  a  night's  lodging 
unless  in  company  with  my  brother,  or  in  case  of  absolute 
necessity. 

By  the  time  I  was  thoroughly  aroused  my  fears  had 
vanished.  Mohammed,  our  faithful  Egyptian  groom,  came 
tapping  at  my  door  to  ask  for  my  luggage,  and  he  said, 
"  Be  of  good  cheer,  lady,  may  the  day  be  white  to  you !" 
and  the  kawass  of  Ody  Azam,  who  stood  by  the  door,  said, 
"  If  this  day  be  dark  to  our  lady,  it  will  be  darkened  in- 
deed unto  many." 

I  breakfasted  early,  but  it  was  half-past  eight  o'clock 
before  the  horses  and  riders  were  all  ready.  Then  after 
taking  leave  of  my  good-natured  hostess,  I  mounted  and 
rode  through  the  streets  of  Nablus  with  a  few  friends,  who 
had  arranged  to  accompany  me  a  short  distance  on  the 
way.  Priest  Amran,  the  Samaritan,  who  walked  by  my 
side,  with  his  hand  on  the  neck  of  my  good  horse,  ex- 
claimed, "Passover  is  nigh  at  hand,  and  you  will  not  be 
with  us  on  the  mountain — this  will  be  a  grief  to  us,  for 
our  hearts  had  been  made  glad  with  the  thought  that  you 


298  DOMESTIC   LIFE  IN  PALESTINE. 

would  be  with  us,  and  now,  behold,  our  hope  is  departed 
from  us." 

I  told  him  how  sincerely  I  regretted  leaving  Nablus  so 
soon.  Then  he  pronounced  a  prayer  and  a  blessing  for 
me,  and  went  his  way. 

A  Christian  of  the  Greek  Catholic  Church  who  was  with 
us,  and  who  had  heard  the  words  of  Amran  and  my  answer, 
said,  "  Rejoice,  rather,  0  lady,  that  you  are  privileged  to 
keep  the  festival  of  Easter  in  the  Holy  City,  Jerusalem, 
that  you  may  worship  in  the  Church  of  the  Sepulcher  of 
our  Lord.  It  is  better  for  you  to  do  so  than  to  pass  the 
Holy  Week  on  '  this  mountain '  with  Samaritans,  who  be- 
smear their  foreheads  with  blood,  and  believe  not  in  the 
name  of  Christ  and  our  Blessed  Lady."  I  was  strikingly 
reminded  of  Christ's  words  to  the  woman  of  Samaria:  "  The 
hour  Cometh  when,  ye  shall,  neither  in  this  mountain  nor 
yet  at  Jerusalem,  worship  the  Father."  "  God  is  a  Spirit, 
and  they  that  worship  him,  must  worship  him  in  spirit 
and  in  truth." 

There  had  been  rain  during  the  night,  and  the  stone 
houses  of  Nablus,  the  white  rocky  terraces  which  bordered 
the  fruit-gardens  on  the  hill- sides,  and  the  slabs  of  smooth 
stone  in  the  plains,  glistened  like  mirrors  in  the  gleams  of 
sunshine.  The  grass,  the  wild  flowers,  the  fruit-trees,  and 
the  broad  fields  of  wheat  and  barley  were  still  wet  with  the 
recent  shower,  and  looked  vividly  green  where  the  quickly- 
traveling  clouds  overshadowed  them. 

We  took  the  upper  path  over  the  spurs  of  Gerizim;  it 
was  rocky  and  stony,  but  bright  with  mezereons,  vetches, 
and  forget-me-nots.  We  met  a  number  of  soldiers  and 
several  large  parties  of  horsemen.  The  traffic  on  the  roads 
leading  to  Nablus  was  greatly  increased  at  that  time,  owing 
to  the  presence  of  Kamil  Pasha  and  his  troops.  The  lower 
road,  which  is  nearly  in  the  middle  of  the  plain,  and  passes 
near  to  Jacob's  Well,  was  traversed  by  companies  of  peas- 
ants and  strings  of  camels,  donkeys  laden  with  firewood, 
and  women  carrying  bowls  of  milk  or  cream.     I  was  as- 


MY  ESCORT.  299 

sured  that  the  scene  was  unusually  animated  for  the  time 
of  the  year,  but  the  plain  is  more  busy  and  cheerful-look- 
ing in  harvest  time. 

We  passed  two  small  villages,  the  lawless-looking  inhab- 
itants of  which  came  out  to  watch  us  as  we  went  by,  while 
their  children  shouted  in  chorus,  and  their  dogs  barked 
savagely.  In  about  one  hour  and  a  half  we  came  to 
Hawara,  which  is  the  third  village  on  the  way  from  Nab- 
lus.  It  is  a  large,  strongly-built  place,  though  unwalled. 
Its  houses  are  like  little  castles.  The  olive-trees  and  gar- 
dens around  it  were  in  flourishing  order. 

Near  to  this  spot  the  upper  and  lower  roads  are  united, 
and  just  where  the  two  ways  meet  we  paused,  and  my 
brother  and  my  Nablus  friends  took  leave  of  me,  and  rode 
quickly  away  down  the  lower  road  in  the  plain,  while  I 
went  on  with  my  little  escort,  which  consisted  of  three 
individuals. 

Mr.  Finn's  head  kawass,  a  clever  and  energetic  Moslem, 
led  the  way.  He  wore  a  scarlet  cloth  jacket  braided  with 
gold,  full  white  cotton  trowsers,  and  a  red  cloth  tarbush. 
He  carried  a  sword  and  pistols,  and  was  mounted  on  a  fine 
black  horse,  of  which  he  was  very  proud. 

Mohammed,  our  faithful  Egyptian  groom,  who  had 
charge  of  the  luggage,  was  dressed  in  a  long  hooded  drab 
cloth  pelisse,  made  at  Aleppo,  and  ornamented  tastefully 
with  broad  black  braid.  He  was  riding  on  his  indefati- 
gable little  donkey. 

Simeon  Rosenthal,  the  Hebrew  dragoman  of  the  British 
Consulate  at  Jerusalem,  was  the  third.  He  was  born  of 
Jewish  parents  at  Bucharest,  but  had  embraced  Christi- 
anity, and  had  lived  in  Jerusalem  nearly  thirty  years.  He 
spoke  English  pretty  fluently,  but  with  Oriental  idioms ;  in 
fact,  nearly  every  sentence  which  he  uttered  was  like  a 
quotation  from  the  Bible.  He  was  a  stout,  elderly  man, 
with  a  ruddy  face,  bushy  gray  hair,  and  twinkling  gray 
eyes.  He  was  dressed  in  European  clothes,  but  wore  over 
them  a  large  white  abai  or  cloak  made  of  goat's  hair,  and 


DOMESTIC   LIFE   IN   PALESTINE. 

a  broad-brimmed  hat  covered  with  white  calico,  and  with 
white  muslin  wound  round  it  and  hanging  down  behind 
like  a  vail.  He  carried  a  brace  of  pistols,  and  to  his  care 
I  was  especially  committed,  though  Mohammed,  the  groom, 
seemed  to  think  that  he  was  my  more  natural  guardian, 
and  he  kept  as  near  to  me  as  his  laden  donkey  and  the 
uneven  roads  would  let  him.  Sometimes  he  was  almost 
wedged  in  between  me  and  a  projecting  rock,  or  he  came 
suddenly  forward  just  under  my  horse's  feet,  or  would 
follow  me  so  closely  that  he  was  in  danger  of  a  kick.  He 
was  very  good  and  attentive,  and  if  he  saw  me  look  at 
a  flower  he  would  immediately  jump  down  to  gather  it, 
though  I  never  could  teach  him  to  bring  me  a  stalk  more 
than  an  inch  long,  and  he  rarely  brought  me  the  right 
flower. 

I  looked  back  now  and  then  to  see  the  last  of  my  brother 
and  his  little  party,  as  they  rode  toward  the  green  valley 
of  Nablus.  Simeon,  who  was  by  my  side,  said,  "I  pray 
you,  Miss  Rogers,  do  not  look  back  any  more.  When  you 
look  back  so,  as  if  you  had  no  heart  to  go  on,  it  makes  me 
think  that  you  have  no  trust  in  me.  I  pray  you  look  for- 
ward only."  To  reassure  him,  I  cast  no  more  longing  looks 
behind,  and,  though  I  felt  rather  sad,  I  would  not  let  it  be 
perceived. 

For  about  two  hours  we  passed  through  a  highly-culti- 
vated district  of  hills  and  plains,  dotted  with  villages,  olive- 
groves,  and  orchards,  and  green  fields  where  laborers  were 
busy.  Women,  with  their  heads  covered  and  their  faces 
almost  concealed  with  white  linen  or  cotton  vails,  were 
gathering  tares,  bright  wild  flowers,  and  weeds  among  the 
corn.  Some  of  them  had  infants  slung  on  their  shoulders, 
and  in  unsown  tracts  of  land,  girls  were  toiling  at  picking 
out  the  stones.  Men  were  sitting  in  groups  smoking  and 
gossiping,  while  others  were  digging  up  the  ground  in  gar- 
dens and  orchards,  and  placing  large  stones  round  the 
trunks  of  old  olive-trees.  They  looked  up  from  their  work 
to  gaze  at  us  with  curiosity.     Simeon  overheard  the  crit- 


PALESTINE    SCENERY.  301 

icisms  of  some  passers-by.  They  were  wondering  who  I 
might  be,  when  one  of  them  settled  the  question,  very  de- 
cidedly, by  saying,  "She  is  a  foreigner  belonging  to  the 
harem  of  Kamil  Pasha,  and  she  is  going  to  Jerusalem 
for  safety,  for  there  may  be  war  in  the  neighborhood  of 
Nablus  soon." 

At  a  little  after  midday  we  rested  for  half  an  hour  near 
to  a  well-side  at  the  foot  of  a  very  steep  hill.  Cold  fowls 
and  bread  and  wine  were  spread  for  me,  on  a  smooth  block 
of  stone.  At  one  o'clock  we  started  again,  and  attempted 
to  ascend  the  hill,  by  one  of  the  worst  and  most  stony 
roads  in  the  country.  Simeon's  clumsy  saddle  slipped  down 
over  the  back  of  his  horse ;  but  he  was  fortunately  able  to 
save  himself  by  clinging  to  the  neck  and  mane  of  the  ani- 
mal, and  then  jumping  to  the  ground.  He  directed  the 
kawass  to  guide  us  by  another  road,  even  though  it  might 
be  a  longer  one,  saying  to  me,  "I  am  afraid  for  you,  for  if 
any  harm  befall  you,  I  shall  not  dare  to  see  your  brother's 
face  again."  I  consented,  though  rather  reluctantly,  to 
take  the  longer  and  easier  road. 

The  scenery  had  quite  changed.  We  had  left  behind  us 
the  pleasant  plains  of  Ephraim,  and  the  cultivated  gardens 
and  terraced  hill-sides ;  and,  with  the  exception  of  one  un- 
usually-fine oak,  which  stands  conspicuously  near  to  the 
ruins  of  an  ancient  castle,  on  a  high  ridge,  we  did  not  see  a 
tree  for  several  miles.  But  the  beautiful  poterium  spinosum^ 
in  full  leaf  and  blossom,  grew  profusely  wherever  there  was 
any  earth  on  the  stony  hills.  We  passed  down  a  wild  and 
narrow  glen.  The  cliflFs  on  each  side  were  steep  and  abrupt, 
pierced  with  caverns,  and  channeled  with  water-courses, 
and  in  the  bottom  of  the  valley  there  were  large  rocks  of 
fantastic  form,  percolated  by  rain,  and  tinted  red,  gray,  or- 
ange-color, and  lavender,  relieved  by  black  and  white.  On 
the  rock-ledges  above  us  there  were  scanty  crops  of  barley, 
wheat,  and  lentiles,  and  olive  and  fig  trees  appeared  again 
in  small  groups.  Flocks  of  goats  and  larger  cattle  were 
being  led  out  to  seek  for  pasture  by  rather  desperate-look- 


302  DOMESTIC  LIFE  IN  PALESTINE. 

ing  herdsmen,  well  armed.  I  was  informed  that  we  werft 
traversing  a  district  celebrated,  from  time  immemorial,  for 
the  lawless  and  daring  character  of  its  inhabitants.  The 
pleasant  sound  of  falling  water  attracted  my  attention.  It 
was  trickling  down  the  side  of  the  cliff,  amid  ferns,  mosses, 
liverwort,  and  tiny  wild-flowers  with  blue  and  yellow  blos- 
soms. It  splashed  into  reservoirs,  hollowed  out  one  below 
the  other  in  the  native  rock,  at  the  foot  of  the  cliff.  This 
pretty  water-fall  is  appropriately  called  "  Ain-el-Haraami- 
yeh,"  or  the  "Fountain  of  the  Robbers,"  for  it  is  often  the 
scene  of  violence,  and  travelers  are  frequently  waylaid  by 
bandits  in  this  wild  glen. 

At  three  o'clock  we  were  about  half-way  on  our  road  to 
Jerusalem,  at  the  entrance  of  "  Wady-el-Tin,"  that  is,  the 
"Valley  of  Figs."  It  is  well  named,  for  it  is  a  long  wide 
grove  of  trees.  But  it  was  then  so  early  in  the  Spring  that 
the  fig-trees  were  not  sufficiently  advanced  to  be  beautiful, 
and  though  some  of  them  had  "put  forth  their  green  figs," 
and  on  others  a  few  tender  leaves  appeared,  they  were  for 
the  most  part  almost  bare.  They  gave  me  the  idea  of  a 
petrified  leafless  forest,  for  the  tortuous  trunks  and  branches 
were  almost  as  white  as  the  rocks  and  stones  amid  which 
they  grew.  This  valley  in  the  Summer-time  is  a  lovely 
place,  for  then  the  large  green  leaves  form  a  perfect  shade, 
the  ripe  and  abundant  fruit  cools  the  lips  of  the  thirsty 
traveler,  and  the  air  is  filled  with  a  sweet  odor  exactly  like 
that  of  the  heliotrope.  The  road  led  us  over  an  extensive 
plateau,  where  hollyhocks  and  anemones,  and  other  bright 
blossoms,  grew  among  thorns,  while  here  and  there  patches 
of  cultivated  land  appeared.  On  the  hills  around  we  could 
see  solitary  villages  perched  on  rocky  terraces,  in  the  midst 
of  orchards  and  vineyards. 

The  way  was  easy  for  the  horses,  and  the  sun  had  lost 
its  power,  so  I  urged  the  kawass  to  ride  forward  more 
quickly,  and  I  followed  him,  cantering  between  the  corn- 
fields, and  among  the  thorns  and  Spring  flowers.  But  I 
eoon  found  that  Simeon   could   not  keep  up  with  us.     I 


DARKNESS.  303 

waited  for  him,  and  when  he,  almost  out  of  breath,  joined 
us,  he  said,  "I  am  very  sorry,  but  I  have  no  power  to 
run."  So  we  proceeded  more  slowly,  and  did  not  reach 
"Beitin"  till  six  o'clock. 

The  shades  of  evening  were  deepening  rapidly,  and  we 
did  not  pause  to  examine  the  extensive  ruins  on  the  ridge, 
but  alighted  in  the  valley  close  to  the  remains  of  an  ancient 
cistern,  formed  of  large,  well-hewn  stones.  The  bottom  of 
it  was  covered  with  a  bed  of  fine  fresh  grass,  in  the  midst 
of  which  a  stream  of  water  flowed  from  fountains  gushing 
out  of  the  rock  just  above  it.  Scriptural  topographists, 
ancient  and  modern,  agree  that  this  is  the  Bethel  of  the 
Bible.  Abraham  of  old  very  likely  drank  of  that  fountain, 
and  the  handmaidens  of  Sarah  may  have  lingered  there  day 
after  day  when  they  went  down  to  draw  water.  There  we 
rested  for  about  half  an  hour,  and  took  coffee. 

The  sun  had  gone  down  when  we  rose  up  to  pursue  our 
journey.  We  were  more  than  three  hours'  distance  from 
Jerusalem.  The  stars  were  shining  brightly  in  a  dark  sky 
overhead,  but  all  round  the  horizon  a  halo  of  pale  light 
concealed  them.  The  temperature  changed  very  suddenly 
at  sunset,  and  we  were  glad  to  put  on  hoods  and  cloaks. 
The  kawass  wrapped  a  brown  camel's- hair  abai  around  him, 
and  in  this  dusky  costume  it  was  quite  impossible  to  dis- 
tinguish him  on  his  black  horse,  as  he  rode  on  before  me, 
through  valleys  or  down  steep  slopes.  Now  and  then,  as 
we  ascended  a  hill,  or  traversed  high  table-land,  I  could 
see  the  silhouette  of  his  tarbushed  head  against  the  sky, 
just  above  the  horizon.  I  could  not  make  out  any  of  the 
objects  around  me  except  the  white  rocks  in  the  midst 
of  dark  bushes  and  thorns,  and  now  and  then  a  smooth 
sheet  of  water,  which  reflected  the  stars,  and  looked  very 
deep;  but  my  leader  splashed  through  it,  and  when  I  fol- 
lowed, I  found  that  the  water  only  wetted  my  horse's  fet- 
locks, and  was  the  result  of  the  recent  rain.  Sometimes  I 
could  see  a  solitary  tree  in  dark  relief  against  a  white  cliff, 
or  the  outline  of  a  village  crowning  a  hill-top.     I  could 


BM  DOMESTIC    LIFE   IN   PALESTINE. 

not  judge  of  distances  correctly,  and  I  was  several  times 
startled  by  dark  objects,  appearing  to  me  to  be  gigantic 
and  far  away,  but  which  I  found  were  in  reality  insignif- 
icant in  size,  and  so  close  to  me  as  to  be  within  reach  of 
my  riding-whip. 

We  were  going  on  in  single  file,  and  I  was  immediately 
behind  the  kawass.  I  was  so  tired  of  trying  in  vain  not 
to  lose  sight  of  him,  that  I  said  to  Simeon,  "Oblige  me  by 
riding  forward,  and  I  will  follow  you.  Your  white  horse 
and  white  cloak  can  be  seen  even  in  this  darkness,  and  I 
am  tired  of  watching  the  kawass."  He  passed,  and  for  a 
few  moments  rode  before  me,  but  suddenly  stopped,  half- 
way down  a  steep  declivity,  saying,  "I  am  afraid  for  you. 
I  can  not  let  you  ride,  and  I  not  see  you.  Not  Jacob  gave 
more  anxious  charge  to  his  sons  when  they  carried  away 
Benjamin,  than  I  have  received  concerning  you,  and  how 
can  I  let  you  ride  in  these  dangerous  paths  out  of  my 
eight?  Let  me  follow  you,  I  pray,  and  you  keep  close  as 
you  can  to  the  kawass,  and  do  not  let  your  horse  run — 
there  are  loose  stones  here,  and  smooth  slabs  of  rock — let 
him  go  very  gently."  I  yielded  to  his  entreaty,  and  once 
more  rode  after  the  invisible  leader.  I  trusted  to  my  horse 
that  he  would  keep  in  the  right  path,  and  I  went  on  silently 
as  if  in  a  dream. 

Suddenly  my  musings  were  interrupted.  My  horse  started 
back  on  his  hind-legs,  for  the  kawass  had  turned  abruptly 
round  and  had  come  to  a  standstill,  and  exclaimed,  "Ma  fi 
darb"— "There  is  no  road!" 

He  explained  that  he  had  been  out  of  the  right  track  for 
about  half  an  hour,  and  he  had  only  just  then  discovered 
that  we  were  approaching  the  brow  of  a  steep  cliff.  His 
horse  had  nearly  carried  him  over  the  edge.  Mohammed 
began  abusing  him  in  very  strong  terras  and  sarcastic  un- 
dertones, while  Simeon  seemed  to  be  much  alarmed  and  in 
great  trouble. 

We  were  on  high  table-land,  and  had  reason  to  be  thank- 
ful that  we  had  not  been  dashed  down  into  the  dark  defile 


ALONE   ON   THE   HILL-TOP.  305 

below.  I  asked  the  kawass  if  he  had  any  means  of  judg- 
ing where  we  were.  He  said  he  knew  we  must  be  some- 
where between  Er-Ram — the  ancient  Ramah — and  Tel-el- 
Ful,  which  is  by  many  Biblical  topographists  believed  to  be 
the  ancient  Gibeah.^  He  proposed  to  alight  and  to  look 
for  some  signs  by  which  he  might  recover  the  lost  track 
and  a  practicable  path  leading  to  it.  So  he  tethered  his 
horse  to  a  tree,  and  Simeon  and  Mohammed  did  the  same, 
but  I  remained  mounted.  Mohammed  handed  a  hookah  to 
me,  and  I  sat  still,  smoking,  while  the  three  men  went  in 
different  directions  to  see  if  they  could  recognize  any  rock, 
tree,  or  streamlet,  fountain  or  ruin  which  might  give  them 
a  clew.  I  told  them  not  to  go  out  of  sight  of  the  light  of 
my  hookah,  or  out  of  each  other's  hearing. 

It  was  with  strange  emotion  that  I  rested  there,  in  the 
darkness  and  alone. 

I  should  have  suffered,  perhaps,  more  from  fear,  if  the 
strangeness  and  peculiarity  of  my  position  had  not  excited 
my  interest  and  wonder  so  completely  as  to  rouse  within 
me  the  spirit  of  love  of  adventure.  The  silence  of  night 
was  broken  at  intervals  by  the  crying  and  snarling  voices 
of  jackals,  and  the  barking  and  yelling  of  wild  dogs  and 
hyenas. 

Now  and  then  I  heard  the  men  calling  to  each  other, 
and  the  tethered  animals  would  sometimes  neigh  and  shake 
themselves,  as  if  answering  the  voices  of  their  respective 
masters ;  but  my  horse  stood  perfectly  still,  while  I  smoked, 
and  thought,  and  looked  up  into  the  night-sky,  where  the 
stars  appeared  infinite  in  number,  and  now  shone  close  down 
to  the  darkened  horizon.  I  was  almost  overwhelmed  with 
the  multitude  of  new  ideas   and  vivid  scenes  which  passed 

*  When  a  "certain  Levite"  was  traveling  from  Bethlehem  home  to  Ephraim 
with  his  recovered  "concubine,"  toward  the  close  of  the  day  he  said  to  his  servant, 
"Let  us  draw  near  to  one  of  these  places,  to  lodge  all  night  in  Gibeah  or  in  Ramah j 
and  the  sun  went  down  upon  them  when  they  were  by  Gibeah,  and  they  turned 
aside  thither  to  go  in  to  lodge  in  Gibeah."  Aqd  the  city  was  destroyed  and  the 
people  were  scattered  for  the  wrong  they  did  to  the  travelers  that  night ;  and  be- 
hold the  flame  of  the  city  ascended  up  to  heaven.    Judges  xix. 

2fi 


306  DOMESTIC   LIFE    IN    PALESTINE 

through  my  mind.  "  My  spirit  had  climbed  high,"  by 
reason  of  the  very  danger  near,  and  "  from  the  top  of  sense 
overlooked  sense,  to  the  significance  and  heart  of  things, 
rather  than  things  themselves."* 

In  rather  less  than  half  an  hour,  though  it  seemed  more 
to  me,  the  joyful  cry  of  "El-hamdoulillah!"  "El-hamdou- 
lillah!" — "Praised  be  God!" — was  echoed  from  one  side  to 
another,  and  soon  Simeon,  who  had  not  been  far  off,  was 
by  my  side,  and  the  other  men  rejoined  me.  They  had 
found  the  right  road,  and  a  way  to  reach  it;  so  we  started 
again,  following  the  kawass. 

We  had  to  go  down  a  very  difficult  and  dangerous 
declivity.  My  horse,  usually  very  sure-footed,  stumbled 
forward  over  a  smooth  slab  of  inclined  rock  and  some 
loose  stones.  I  was  very  nearly  thrown  over  his  head — 
the  excellence  of  my  hunting-saddle  saved  me;  but  I  was 
so  shaken  and  startled  that  I  trembled  from  head  to  foot, 
and  was  obliged  to  pause  for  a  few  minutes.  A  hookah, 
the  Oriental  panacea,  was  brought  to  me.  It  was  so  very 
dark  down  in  that  valley  that  I  could  scarcely  distinguish 
one  of  the  men  from  the  other  as  they  gathered  round  me. 
I  soon  recovered  my  composure  and  courage  to  proceed. 
We  splashed  through  a  stream,  and  scrambled  up  a  steep 
embankment,  and  crossed  a  stony  wady  before  we  regained 
the  proper  route. 

I  had  desired  the  kawass  to  fasten  a  white  handkerchief 
over  his  head  as  a  beacon  for  me.  We  were  going  up 
a  hill,  and  I  was  watching  this  mark,  when  suddenly  a 
circle  of  light  appeared  near  it,  like  a  nimbus,  and  was 
accompanied  by  a  clicking  noise.  I  found  that  our  leader 
was  preparing  a  light  for  his  narghil§  by  a  method  which 
I  had  never  before  seen  adopted,  although  it  is  a  very 
common  one. 

The  moistened  Persian  tumbao,  which  is  used  in  narghiles 
and  hookahs,  can  only  be  smoked  by  means  of  a  piece  of 
red-hot  or  live  charcoal.     The  lover  of  tumbac,  when  on  a 

*  Mrs.  Browning. 


AKRIVAL   AT   JERUSALEM.  307 

journey,  always  provides  himself  with  a  flint  and  steel, 
some  tinder  and  prepared  charcoal,  and  a  little  round  wire- 
work  basket,  about  two  inches  in  diameter,  suspended  by 
three  chains,  more  or  less  ornamented  with  beads  and  silk 
tassels.  When  a  pipe  is  required,  a  piece  of  tinder  is 
lighted,  and  placed  with  some  charcoal  in  the  basket, 
which  is  whirled  rapidly  round  and  round.  The  charcoal 
soon  becomes  so  thoroughly  red-hot  that  it  is  ready  to  be 
placed  on  the  moistened  tumbac  in  the  bowl  of  the  pipe. 
This  explained  the  mystery  of  the  nimbus  round  the  head 
of  my  guide. 

As  soon  as  we  reached  the  hights  of  Tel-el-Ful — the 
"Hill  of  Beans" — I  could  see,  in  the  west,  the  well- 
remembered  and  marked  outline  of  Neby  Samuel,  and 
in  the  far  east  the  long,  level  line  of  the  mountains  of 
Moab,  and  southward,  straight  before  us,  I  recognized  the 
hills  round  about  Jerusalem.  Soon  afterward,  from  the 
summit  of  Scopus,  we  perceived  the  dark  minarets  and 
domes  of  the  Holy  City  and  the  Mount  of  Olives,  where 
a  light  was  burning  in  the  little  tower  which  was  then 
called  "Graham  Castle." 

It  was  half-past  eleven  when  we  stood  by  the  crenellated 
walls  of  Jerusalem.  The  gates  were  closed,  and  there  was 
death-like  silence  there,  till  the  kawass  knocked  loudly 
against  the  west  or  Yafa  Gate.  The  sentinels  within  were 
roused,  and  they  cried,  "Who  is  there?"  We  explained, 
and  then  one  of  the  sentinels  said,  "The  gate  was  kept 
open  till  ten  o'clock,  but  now  the  key  is  with  the  Gov- 
ernor." The  Governor  was  living  at  the  other  end  'of 
the  town ;  however,  a  messenger  was  immediately  dis- 
patched to  him  to  ask  for  permission  to  admit  us.  An- 
other messenger  was  sent  to  the  Consulate  to  announce 
our  safe  arrival.  We,  in  the  mean  time,  tired  and  hungry, 
were  shivering  in  the  midnight  air  outside  the  gate,  and 
twenty  minutes  elapsed  before  it  was  thrown  open  for  us. 
Then  I  entered  in  with  joy;  for  I  felt  at  home  there, 
and  safe. 


DOMESTIC   LIFE   IN   PALESTINE. 

I  hastened  across  the  well-known  Castle  Square,  and  up 
the  narrow  passage,  clattering  over  the  uneven  pavement, 
and  drew  up  my  horse  at  the  entrance  to  the  Consulate, 
where  my  kind  friends — Mr.  and  Mrs.  Finn — came  out  to 
welcome  me.  They  led  me,  hooded  and  cloaked  as  I  was, 
into  their  brilliantly-lighted  drawing-room,  where  a  con- 
versazione of  the  "Jerusalem  Literary  Society"  was  being 
held.  The  rooms  were  quite  English  in  character,  and 
bright  with  lamps  and  well-arranged  flowers,  and  filled 
with  English  guests,  many  of  whom  were  recently-arrived 
travelers,  strangers  to  me. 

Large  logs  of  wood  were  burning  and  crackling  on  the 
fire-dogs  in  the  chimney-place.  The  whole  presented  a 
most  striking  contrast  to  the  scenes  and  society  by  which 
I  had  been  lately  surrounded,  and  the  delight  I  felt  made 
me  almost  forget  my  fatigue.  After  the  guests  had  gone 
we  lingered  for  an  hour  by  the  fire  in  pleasant  chat;  and 
then  for  the  first  time  I  slept  and  found  perfect  rest  and 
peace  within  the  walls  of  Jerusalem.  It  was  very  pleasant 
when  I  woke  in  the  morning  to  see  the  Consul's  children 
round  me,  and  to  hear  their  English  greetings,  and  their 
glad,  familiar  voices. 

I  found  Jerusalem  in  the  early  Spring  altogether  dif- 
ferent to  Jerusalem  in  the  hot  Summer-time,  when  it  had 
often  appeared  to  me,  literally,  "a  city  of  stone,  in  a 
land  of  iron,  with  a  sky  of  brass,"  and  when  at  midday 
all  unsheltered  places  were  quite  deserted,  and  those  peo- 
ple who  could  do  so  lived  in  tents  in  olive-groves  in  the 
valleys  or  on  the  hills  round  about  Jerusalem.  Now  all 
was  changed ;  the  few  open  spaces  within  the  city  walls 
were  green  with  grass,  or  patches  of  wheat  and  barley, 
and  the  whole  of  the  mosque  inclosure  was  like  meadow- 
land  sprinkled  with  flowers;  the  very  walls  were  garnished 
with  rough  leaves,  stonecrop,  pellitory,  and  bright  blos- 
soms. Among  them  the  bitter  hyssop  and  bright-yellow 
henbane  were  pointed  out  to  me,  growing  luxuriantly  on 
the  Tower  of  Hippicus,  in  the   dry  moat,  and  on  all   the 


INDICATIONS   OF   RAIN.  309 

most  ancient  buildings ;  while  out  of  the  cracks  of  the 
domes,  and  on  the  terraced  roofs  of  many  of  the  houses, 
straggling  herbage  sprang. 

In  the  streets  there  was  renewed  activity;  for  already 
the  Latin  pilgrims  were  beginning  to  flock  to  Jerusalem 
that  they  might  celebrate  Easter  at  the  Holy  Sepulcher. 
English  and  American  travelers  were  to  be  seen  in  the 
principal  streets,  sketching  under  difficulties  in  the  midst 
of  crowds  of  lookers-on,  or  making  bad  bargains  with  the 
turbaned  salesmen  in  the  bazars.  Outside  the  town,  too, 
the  scenery  had  changed.  Wherever  the  earth  rested  on 
the  rocky  hills  verdure  appeared,  and  the  plains,  and  the 
cemeteries,  and  valleys  were  gay  with  flowers.  Bulbous 
plants  abounded,  especially  asphodels,  and  the  hyacinth, 
squill,  garlic,  and  star  of  Bethlehem.  Every  evening  at 
sunset  large  companies  of  people,  of  all  tribes  and  nations, 
might  be  seen  entering  the  city  gates,  after  having  enjoyed 
their  evening  walk. 

I  made  pleasant  excursions  in  the  neighborhood,  and 
revisited  many  of  the  chief  places  in  Jerusalem  with 
parties  of  English  travelers,  and  thus  the  time  passed 
till  March  18th,  when  to  my  delight  my  brother  arrived 
soon  after  sunrise,  in  company  with  the  Pasha  and  his 
troops.  During  the  day  a  fierce  hot  sirocco  wind  pre- 
vailed, and  threatened  to  scorch  and  destroy  the  crops. 
Before  sunset  we  rode  out  with  a  large  party  to  see  the 
Jewish  plantation,  where  newly-grafted  olive-trees  were 
putting  forth  new  leaves,  and  apricot,  and  nectarine,  and 
other  fruit  trees  looked  flourishing.  But  the  fields  of 
wheat  and  barley  and  the  beds  of  vegetables  thirsted  for 
the  "latter  rain."  The  gardeners  and  farm-laborers  had 
been  praying  for  it  for  many  days.  They  called  our 
attention  to  a  small  group  of  dense  black  clouds  which 
were  then  slowly  rising  out  of  the  west,  and  one  of  them 
said,  "Our  hope  is  in  those  clouds."  As  we  rode  home- 
ward a  few  large  drops  of  rain  reminded  us  of  the  gar- 
dener's words.     During  the  night  the  west  wind  rose  with 


310  DOMESTIC   LIFE   IN   PALESTINE. 

unusual  violence,  shook  the  house  to  its  foundations,  and 
disturbed  all  the  sleepers.  The  Arab  servants,  who  rose 
and  went  from  room  to  room  to  make  the  shutters  and 
windows  more  secure,  said,  "It  is  well;  this  strong  wind 
will  bring  rain.  The  cisterns  will  be  filled  with  water, 
and  the  corn  will  grow.     Praised  be  God!" 

On  the  following  morning,  March  19th,  torrents  of  rain 
and  hail  began  to  fall,  and  continued  without  intermission 
all  day  and  during  the  night.  On  Thursday  the  storm 
was  even  more  violent.  The  hailstones  generally  were 
as  large  as  cherry-stones,  but  some  were  three  or  four 
times  the  size.  At  midday  wide  flakes  of  snow  fell,  but 
melted  quickly. 

On  Good  Friday,  March  21st,  the  first  sounds  I  heard 
on  waking,  were  the  joyful  voices  of  the  children.  They 
knocked  at  my  door,  crying,  "  The  Kedron  is  flowing !  the 
Brook  Kedron,  you  know  !  It  is  flowing ;  make  haste  and 
get  up.     See,  here  is  some  of  the  water !" 

I  found  that  the  peasantry  had  entered  the  city  at  sun- 
rise, in  triumph,  to  announce  the  news.  They  had  brought 
several  goatskins  and  jars  filled  with  the  water.  The 
bearers  of  good  tidings  are  now,  as  of  old,  entitled  to  a 
backshish,  so  these  peasants  reaped  a  good  harvest  that 
morning  in  Jerusalem. 

The  storm  continued,  and  did  not  cease  for  a  moment 
till  Saturday  morning,  and  there  was  scarcely  an  upper 
chamber  in  Jerusalem  which  was  uninjured  by  it.  I  was 
assured  that  three  such  days  of  rain  had  never  been  wit- 
nessed there  at  that  season  by  any  one  living.  Spring 
showers  are  generally  of  short  duration,  and  quickly  fol- 
lowed by  sunshine.  But  this  unexpected  supply  of  water 
was  very  welcome,  for  the  Winter  rains  had  been  less 
abundant  than  usual,  and  had  not  filled  the  pools,  or  "  sent 
the  springs  into   the  valleys  which  run  among  the  hills." 

On  Saturday  afternoon  the  sun  shone  brightly  on  the 
rain -refreshed  earth,  and  hundreds  of  people  went  out  to 
look  at  the  waters  of  the  Brook  Kedron.     I  rode  with  my 


THE   KEDRON.  311 

brother  out  at  the  Yafa  Gate,  and  along  the  valley  of 
Gihon.  We  made  our  way  quickly  down  to  En  Kogel, 
the  source  of  the  stream.  It  is  south-east  of  Jerusalem, 
and  called  by  the  Arabs  "  Bir-Eytlb  "—the  Well  of  Job. 
We  were  surprised  to  find  that  not  only  had  the  spring 
below  the  well  bubbled  up  as  usual,  but  the  force  of  the 
body  of  water  was  so  great,  that  it  had  risen  up  and  over- 
flowed the  ancient  shaft,  which  is  one  hundred  and  twenty- 
five  feet  deep.  A  large  concourse  of  people  were  already 
assembled  there. 

Groups  of  Moslems  sat  under  the  olive-trees,  close  to 
the  stream,  smoking  narghiles,  drinking  coffee,  playing 
with  their  rosaries,  and  looking  supremely  happy.  Boys 
were  going  about  selling  sweetmeats  and  cakes,  which  they 
carried  on  round  trays  made  of  reeds.  There  were  several 
rival  purveyors  of  coffee  and  pipes.  One  would  have 
thought  that  it  was  fair-day  at  En  Rogel.  All  sorts  of 
skins,  jars  of  all  shapes  and  sizes,  and  other  vessels  had 
been  brought  down  to  the  stream,  that  they  might  be  filled 
there.  Women  in  white  sheets  sat  in  groups  on  the  sun- 
dried  rocks,  apart  from  the  men,  enjoying  pipes  and  sweet- 
meats, and  children  were  swinging  on  ropes  tied  to  the 
tree-branches.  Many  of  the  European  residents  of  Jeru- 
salem were  strolling  about  with  their  little  ones,  and  the 
newly-arrived  English  travelers  watched  the  scene  with  evi- 
dent interest  and  delight. 

"  Shall  we  follow  the  course  of  the  Kedron,  and  see  how 
far  it  goes?"  said  my  brother.  I  readily  assented.  So  we 
left  the  noisy  but  picturesque  crowd,  and  made  our  way 
down  the  valley  under  the  olive-trees  —  now  splashing 
through  the  murmuring  musical  waters,  where  they  passed 
between  the  low  stone-wall  boundaries  of  fruit  and  vege- 
table gardens — now  rising  on  to  the  sloping  hill-side,  and 
returning  to  the  stream  whenever  there  was  a  practicable 
path  in  it,  or  near  it.  The  rugged  rocks  around  were  gar- 
landed with  green,  thorny  creeping  plants,  and  within  the 
niches  and  in  the  caverns  of  .the  limestone  cliffs  masses  of 


312  DOMESTIC   LIFE   IN   PALESTINE. 

maiden-hair  and  other  ferns  appeared.  It  was  very  pleas- 
ant to  observe  the- turnings  and  the  windings  of  the  new- 
born river,  remembering  that  on  the  morning  of  the  previ- 
ous day  only,  it  had  sprung  fresh  and  free  from  its  source, 
to  make  itself  a  path  in  this  valley,  inviting  all  the  little 
streamlets  from  the  hills  to  flow  with  it.  In  one  place, 
about  a  mile  from  En  Rogel,  it  passed  over  broad,  smooth 
slabs  of  time-polished  red  stone,  then  tumbled  over  a  little 
ridge  of  rocks  into  a  bed  formed  of  small  pebbles.  Having 
gained  renewed  vigor  by  this  fall,  it  rushed  impetuously 
along  a  channel  about  five  feet  wide,  made  for  it  in  the 
midst  of  a  terraced  olive-plantation.  When  thus  confined, 
it  was  about  one  foot  deep,  but  when  freed  from  this  arti- 
ficial training,  it  spread  itself  over  the  wide  rocky  bed 
beyond,  and  only  wetted  our  horses'  fetlocks  as  we  splashed 
through  it.  Sometimes  the  brook  does  not  flow  further 
than  this  olive-grove.  At  other  times,  when  the  Winter 
rains  are  abundant,  it  travels  down  "  Wady  er  Raheb  " — 
The  Monk's  Valley — to  the  Convent  of  Mar  Saba ;  but  its 
ancient  destination  was  evidently  the  Dead  Sea,  into  which 
it  fell  from  the  "Wady  Nar  "— The  Valley  of  Fire. 

We  followed  the  course  of  the  stream  for  nearly  an 
hour,  and  still,  to  our  surprise,  it  flowed  rapidly;  but  as 
the  sun  was  declining  we  gave  up  the  chase,  and  retraced 
our  steps.  We  overtook  our  friends,  who  were  still  linger- 
ing by  the  source  of  the  stream. 

A  Moslem  kawass  of  the  British  Consulate  said  to  us, 
."  This  is  the  blessing  of  blessings.  Who  has  ever  told  of 
the  Kedron  flowing  in  Adar?  It  comes  in  the  Winter,  and 
even  early  in  Spring;  but  who  has  heard  of  its  waters 
rising  at  this  time?  Yet,"  he  added,  "while  we  are  rejoic- 
ing and  giving  thanks,  there  are  men  whose  hearts  are 
hardened  by  love  of  money,  and  who  will  be  sorry  to  see 
these  rivers  of  rain — for  they  have  just  bought  up  all  the 
stores  of  wheat,  thinking  that  the  harvest  would  fail  this 
year  for  lack  of  rain.  May  God  destroy  their  house ! 
Their  hope  was,  that  they  might  make  themselves  rich  by 


EASTER  SUNDAY.  313 

the  hunger  of  the  poor."  The  setting  sun  warned  us  that 
we  must  hasten  toward  the  city  before  the  closing  of  the 
gates,  and  we  rode  home  with  a  large  and  cheerful  company. 

Easter  Sunday  was  unclouded,  and  the  people  of  Jeru- 
salem looked  unusually  animated,  and  in  their  gayest 
costumes.  The  Arabs  of  the  Latin  Church,  as  they  met 
each  other  that  morning,  exchanged  the  customary  greet- 
ings, "Christ  is  risen!" — "He  is  risen  indeed!" 

During  Easter  week,  rain  and  sunshine  succeeded  each 
other,  and  every  now  and  then  we  could  see  a  bright  but 
transient  rainbow  spanning  the  hills.  Mr.  Meshullam  came 
to  tell  us  that  he  and  his  family  had  been  almost  washed 
out  of  their  little  stone-house  in  the  valley  of  Urtas.  A 
spring  had  suddenly  burst  up  in  their  dining-room,  another 
in  the  stables,  and  a  torrent  of  water  rushing  down  the 
valley  had  carried  large  pieces  of  rock  and  stone  over  the 
vegetable  and  fruit  gardens,  doing  considerable  injury  to 
the  crops.  Solomon's  Pools,  which,  only  a  few  days  be- 
fore, had  been  the  safe  and  favorite  play-grounds  of  Me- 
shullam's  children,  were  all  quite  filled  in  less  than  four 
hours.  The  little  ones  had  been  gathering  cresses  in  the 
corners,  at  the  bottom  of  the  pools,  just  before  the  gushing 
of  the  springs. 

On  March  31st  I  was  roused  early,  by  the  booming  of 
cannons  from  the  Tower  of  Hippicus,  and  I  heard  that 
news  of  the  birth  of  an  heir  to  the  Imperial  throne  of 
France  had  just  arrived. 

Mons.  Barri^re,  the  French  Consul,  called  in  person  to 
announce  the  happy  event.  Mr,  Finn  immediately  caused 
preparations  to  be  made  for  a  soiree  to  celebrate  it  that 
very  evening.  I  helped  to  deck  the  drawing-rooms  with 
green  garlands  and  wreaths  of  flowers,  and  about  one  hund- 
red wax  candles  were  fixed  in  the  front  windows.  When 
they  were  lighted  at  sunset  they  produced  a  very  pretty 
and,  for  the  East,  quite  unique  efi"ect;  for  Her  Britannic' 
Majesty's  Consulate  was  then  next  door  to  the  Protestant 
church,  and,  unlike  all  other  dwelling-houses  in  Jerusalem, 

27 


314  DOMESTIC   LIFE   IN   PALESTINE. 

it  had  an  English  fa§ade.  A  great  many  cressets  were 
flaming  on  the  roof,  and  shone  with  fitful  brightness  on  the 
group  of  kawasses  and  Abyssinian  servants  who  were  feed- 
ing and  fanning  them.  Fire-works  were  skillfully  displayed 
.in  the  court-yard,  to  the  delight  of  hundreds  of  spectators. 
A  large  party  assembled  at  the  Consulate.  A  number  of 
English  travelers  came,  and  many  of  the  European  resi- 
dents. In  the  course  of  the  evening  some  Arab  musicians 
were  allowed  to  enter,  to  play  and  sing  for  the  especial  en- 
tertainment of  the  strangers  present.  Impromptu  songs 
were  sung  in  honor  of  the  Imperial  Prince. 

Invitations  had,  in  the  mean  time,  been  issued  to  all  the 
members  of  the  ^^ corps  diplomatique^'  to  a  dejeilner  a  la 
fourchette^  to  celebrate  the  birth  of  the  Prince  officially,  at 
the  French  Consulate,  on  the  following  day,  April  1st. 

I  went,  in  company  with  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Finn  and  my 
brother.  We  were  received  by  M.  Barri^re,  the  Consul, 
and  Mad""*  L. — n6e  Leseppes — the  sister  of  the  then  Con- 
sul-General  for  Syria.  The  Pasha  and  all  the  Consuls,  in  full 
uniform,  were  soon  assembled,  but  no  other  ladies  arrived. 

As  this  was  rather  a  singular  reunion,  1  will  describe  it 
in  detail.  After  we  had  taken  coffee,  his  Excellency  Kamil 
Pasha  conducted  Mrs.  Finn  to  the  elegantly-spread  table  in 
the  breakfast-room,  and  placed  her  on  his  left  hand.  I 
was  at  the  same  time  led  in,  and  seated  on  his  right  hand. 
Mad™*  L.  sat  exactly  opposite  to  the  Pasha,  and  was  sup- 
ported by  the  English  Consul  and  the  Latin  Patriarch. 
Then  the  Spanish  Consul-General  and  the  other  European 
Consuls,  Abb6  Ratisbon  and  several  other  distinguished 
French  ecclesiastics,  Le  Comte  de  Fontenoy,  and  M.  Gilbert, 
the  Pasha's  secretary,  took  their  seats,  making  altogether 
eighteen. 

Turkish,  French,  Greek,  and  Italian  culinary  skill  had 
been  employed  in  preparing  the  entertainment.  While  we 
partook  of  it,  an  animated  conversation  was  being  carried 
on  in  French,  with  occasional  Spanish,  Turkish,  Italian,  and 
German  expletives,  but  no  English  was  spoken. 


OUTBREAK    AT    NABLUS.  315 

The  English  Consul  proposed  the  first  toast;  it  was  for 
Abdul  Medjid.  M.  Barri^re  answered  it,  and  the  Latin 
Patriarch  made  a  graceful  comment. 

Then  the  Pasha  rose,  and,  in  florid  Turkish,  proposed 
the  health  of  the  Emperor's  son  and  heir.  Mons.  G-.  inter- 
preted this  speech,  and  several  other  toasts  followed.  The 
alliance  of  Turkey,  France,  and  England  was  especially 
alluded  to  by  the  Pasha,  and  the  toast  was  very  heartily 
responded  to. 

The  gentlemen  did  not  linger  at  the  table,  but  led  us 
immediately  to  the  divan,  where  cigarettes  and  narghiles 
were  distributed.  When  I  saw  that  Mad'"*  L.  took  the 
former,  I  did  not  hesitate  to  take  the  latter.  The  Pasha 
good-naturedly  alluded  to  my  visit  to  Nablus,  and  asked 
for  the  particulars  of  my  journey  to  Jerusalem.  Coffee  and 
French  motto  bonbons  were  handed  round,  and  there  was 
no  sign  of  breaking  up  the  party  for  an  hour  or  more. 
Then,  one  after  another,  we  left. 

On  Saturday,  April  5th,  after  having  gpent  the  day  in 
the  Mosque,  with  a  large  party  of  English  people,  I  re- 
turned to  the  Consulate,  and  was  startled  to  hear  that  reli- 
able news  had  just  arrived,  that  the  Rev.  S.  Lyde,  an  En- 
glish subject,  had  accidentally  caused  the  death  of  a  deaf 
and  dumb  man,  a  Moslem,  as  he  was  on  the  point  of  leav- 
ing Nablus.  The  Moslems  were  revenging  themselves  on 
the  Christian  population,  and  the  Protestants  especially  were 
the  objects  of  their  fury.  Ody  Azam's  house,  where  we  had 
lodged,  had  been  attacked,  as  well  as  many  others,  and  the 
Christian  quarter  was  plundered. 

A  meeting  of  the  Pasha  and  of  some  of  the  Consuls  was 
immediately  held.  My  brother  volunteered  to  proceed  to 
Nablus  to  examine  the  state  of  affairs  there,  and  to  see 
what  means  could  be  devised  for  Mr.  Lyde's  safe  conduct 
to  Jerusalem.  He  went  the  next  morning,  long  before  sun- 
rise, attended  only  by  his  kawass  and  groom.  The  Pasha 
and  some  of  the  Consuls  had  endeavored  to  persuade  him 
to  have  a  body  of  soldiers  with  him,  and  even  tried  to  in- 


316  DOMESTIC  LIFE  IN  PALESTINE. 

duce  me  to  add  my  persuasions  to  theirs.  But  I  instinct- 
ively felt,  as  he  did,  that  he  was  more  safe  alone,  than  if 
he  went  with  an  antagonistic  and  yet  insufficient  force.  Con- 
siderable anxiety  was  felt  on  his  account,  for  it  was  thought 
to  be  a  hazardous  enterprise. 

He  arrived  at  Nabltis  before  the  excitement  was  subdued. 
The  people  seemed  to  be  taken  by  surprise,  and  to  be 
calmed  by  his  confidence  in  them.  He  found  that  Mr.  Lyde 
had  been  kindly  protected  from  the  enraged  populace  by 
Mahmoud  Bek  Abdul  Hady,  in  his  new  and  beautiful 
house,  which  was  actually  besieged  by  the  people,  and  con- 
siderably injured,  because  the  Grovernor  refused  to  yield  the 
offender  up  to  them.  Mr.  Lyde,  seeing  the  mischief  that 
was  being  done,  made  his  will,  wrote  a  few  letters,  and 
then  begged  the  Governor  to  let  him  go  out  to  the  mob, 
that  they  might  be  appeased  by  his  death.  He  said,  "  If 
they  can  not  kill  me,  others  will  surely  suffer."  However, 
the  Governor  steadily  persisted  in  protecting  him,  and  de- 
tained him  as  his  prisoner,  saying,  "Be  at  rest— I  and  my 
family,  my  servants  and  all  my  household,  will  risk  our 
lives,  rather  than  let  yours  be  sacrificed."  The  disappointed 
crowd  gathered  menacingly  round  the  building,  and  threw 
stones  and  fired  at  it  for  some  time,  and  then  went  away  to 
wreak  their  vengeance  on  the  unoffending  inhabitants  of 
the  Christian  quarter. 

The  following  extract,  from  a  dispatch  addressed  to  Mr. 
Finn  by  my  brother,  will  show  the  persistent  cruelty  of  the 
fanatics : 

"I  then  went  to  the  house  of  M.  Zeller,  where  I  found 
the  lower  rooms  utterly  pillaged,  and  the  floors  covered 
with  broken  china,  leaves  of  books,  maps,  and  papers  of  all 
descriptions,  in  fragments.  Upstairs,  I  found  the  trunks, 
desks,  boxes,  a  chest  of  drawers,  etc.,  broken  and  destroyed. 
In  fact,  the  populace  left  nothing  undone  that  could  possi- 
bly be  effected  toward  the  injury  of  the  Christians.  For- 
tunately, most  of  the  Protestants  were,  and  are  still,  away 
with  the  Bishop,  otherwise  they  would  certainly  haf  e  been 


RESCUE    OF   MR.   LYDE.  317 

murdered."  [This  refers  to  Bishop  Grobat,  who  was  making 
a  tour  through  his  diocese,  and  had  passed  through  Nablus 
a  few  days  before  the  outbreak.] 

"Samaan  Kawarre,  father  of  the  Prussian  Agent,  is  killed. 
Hanna,  servant  of  M.  Zeller,  is  dangerously  wounded,  and 
despaired  of.  J.  Tannus  and  his  wife,  and  several  others, 
are  badly  wounded — besides  eleven  women,  who  are  seri- 
ously injured  by  excessive  fright,"  etc. 

On  the  10th,  about  midday,  I  was  attracted  to  the  win- 
dow by  sounds  of  prancing  horses  and  tum-tums,  and  saw 
Mr.  Lyde,  in  the  midst  of  a  little  party  of  Turkish  irregu- 
lar cavalry.  He  alighted  at  the  Consulate,  a  prisoner  en 
'parole.  We  all  went  out  to  meet  and  welcome  him,  and  he 
gave  us  an  account  of  the  riots.  He  was  very  dejected. 
He  said  to  me,  "  Mr.  Rogers  ran  a  greater  risk  on  my  ac- 
count than  my  life  is  worth." 

On  Sunday,  the  13th,  my  brother  arrived.  The  riots 
were  quelled,  but  the  Christians  felt  less  confidence  than 
ever  in  their  Moslem  neighbors.  Most  of  the  Protestants 
had  come  to  Jerusalem,  and  the  rest  were  at  Nazareth.  My 
brother  had  brought  with  him  the  jeweled  head-dresses, 
and  necklaces  of  gold  coins  and  pearls,  belonging  to  some 
of  the  Christian  women  of  Nablus,  and  gave  them  into  my 
care.  He  had  been  earnestly  entreated  to  do  so  by  their 
owners,  of  whom  some  had  taken  flight,  and  feared  to  carry 
their  valuables  with  them — and  others,  who  remained  at 
home,  felt  that  no  hiding-place  was  safe  while  the  town  was 
so  unsettled. 

Mahmoud  Bek  Abdul  Hady,  the  Governor,  had  certainly 
protected  the  Christians,  during  the  outbreak,  as  far  as  he 
possibly  could. 

The  indemnity  of  55,000  piasters,  adjudged  to  the  in- 
jured Christians  by  the  Porte,  was  not  paid  till  two  years 
afterward. 

Mr.  Lyde's  trial,  at  Jerusalem,  occupied  a  considerable 
time.  He  was  eventually  condemned  to  pay  a  certain  sum', 
as  ^^  blood- money ^^^  to  the  heirs  of  the  deceased  man,  who 


318  DOMESTIC  LIFE  IN   PALESTINE. 

was  a  well-known  and  rather  favorite  character  in  Nablus. 
He  was  deaf  and  dumb,  and  slightly  deranged  in  intellect, 
and  consequently  was  superstitiously  respected  by  the 
Arabs,  and  was  yet,  at  the  same  time,  an  object  of  their 
amusement.  He  was  a  professed  beggar,  and  very  importu- 
nate. It  appeared  that  he  stopped  Mr.  Lyde's  horse,  near 
to  the  Nablus  Gate,  and,  by  signs  and  gestures,  besought 
alms,  which  were  refused.  When  Mr.  Lyde  tried  to  pass 
on,  the  deceased  caught  hold  of  the  end  of  a  loaded  pistol, 
which  was  in  the  holster  of  the  saddle,  and  unfortunately 
cocked.  Mr.  Lyde,  knowing  the  danger,  endeavored  to  re- 
move his  hand.  In  doing  so,  the  pistol  went  off,  and  the 
man  was  killed  on  the  spot.  Mr.  Lyde  was  immediately 
surrounded,  but  he  hastened  to  the  Governor,  and  gave 
himself  up  as  prisoner.  [Mr.  Lyde  did  not  long  survive 
this  calamity.  His  mind  became  very  seriously  affected. 
He  imagined  himself  to  be  the  Redeemer  of  the  world. 
A  visit  to  England  in  1858,  however,  dispelled  the  delu- 
sion; and  he  returned  to  his  missionary  work  in  the  East, 
in  apparently  good  health,  but  died,  very  much  regretted, 
shortly  afterward.] 

By  the  15th  of  April  Jerusalem  was  thronged  with 
people.  The  population  was  nearly  doubled  by  the  influx 
of  Russian,  Greek,  and  Armenian  pilgrims,  who  had  come 
to  pass  the  Holy  Week — old  style — in  the  Holy  City,  to 
visit  the  neighboring  shrines  which  they  reverence,  and  to 
attend  the  Easter  services  in  the  Church  of  the  Sepulcher. 
Every  day  added  to  the  number  of  these  earnest  devotees. 
Most  of  them  are  poor  people,  who  have  saved  a  sufficient 
sum  of  money  to  enable  them  to  perform  the  pilgrimage. 
They  generally  return  home  quite  penniless,  but  happy 
in  having  realized  the  great  object  of  all  their  struggles. 
There  were,  however,  a  few  pilgrims  who  were  distinguished 
by  rank,  office,  or  wealth,  and  who  traveled  with  brilliant 
cavalcades. 

On  the  24th  of  April  I  was  roused  at  three  o'clock  by 
the  booming  of  cannons  from  the  citadel.     They  flashed 


PEACE   CELEBRATION.  819 

for  an  instant  every  few  minutes,  lighting  up  my  room. 
Then  there  was  silence  and  darkness,  and  I  slept  till  seven, 
when  another  volley  woke  me,  and  I  rose.  Every  one  was 
busy,  for  Kamil  Pasha  had  issued  a  proclamation,  ordering 
"all  the  people  of  Jerusalem  to  rejoice  and  be  glad,  and 
render  thanks  to  God,  and  to  illuminate  their  houses,"  in 
celebration  of  the  announcement  of  peace  between  Russia 
and  Turkey.  The  tinmen,  and  the  dealers  in  "lamps,  old 
and  new,"  and  the  makers  of  lanterns,  reaped  a  golden 
harvest  that  day.  Contrivances  for  illuminating  engaged 
every  one.  There  was  a  great  demand  in  the  bazars 
for  gilt  wire  and  colored  paper  wherewith  to  incase  wax- 
candles. 

At  noon  a  busy  and  merry  little  party  of  English  girls 
assembled  at  the  Consulate.  Paper  roses  and  carnations 
grew  rapidly  beneath  our  fingers,  and  were  fastened  to 
the  tree-branches  and  boughs  with  which  Hadj  Ali,  the 
Egyptian  groom,  supplied  us.  He  brought  us  a  donkey- 
load;  but  he  had  made  his  selection  without  any  senti- 
ment^ and  as  he  thought  carrot-tops  much  more  beautiful 
than  olive-branches  or  laurels,  he  gathered  the  former  in 
abundance.  However,  they  made  bright-green  garlands, 
and  had  a  pretty  efi'ect  with  our  flowers,  and  no  one 
could  guess  what  they  were.  We  had  several  visitors, 
who  were  much  amused  while  we  were  making  our  garden 
grow.  The  Spanish  Consul-General,  the  French  Consul, 
and  some  English  travelers  came.  The  Pasha's  Secretary, 
who  peeped  in  several  times,  said  he  would  report  to 
Kamil  Pasha  how  thoroughly  we  were  obeying  the  orders 
of  the  day. 

The  sun  went  down,  and  then  by  degrees  the  city  was 
lighted  up.  Rings  of  light  encircled  the  minarets  and 
some  of  the  domes.  The  Latin  convent  and  Bishop  Gobat's 
house  were  brilliant  with  flambeaus  and  cressets,  and  a 
flood  of  light  streamed  through  the  garlanded  windows 
of  the  Consulate.  Groups  of  white-sheeted  women,  and 
crowds   of   men   and   boys   carrying   torches   and   colored- 


320  DOMESTIC  LIFE  IN  PALESTINE. 

paper  lanterns,  paraded  the  streets.  About  an  hour  after 
sunset  a  sham  fight  took  place,  under  the  direction  of  the 
chief  commander  of  the  troops.  We  went  with  a  large 
party  on  to  the  roof  of  the  offices  to  witness  it.  The 
Tower  of  Hippicus,  occupied  by  the  regulars,  was  besieged 
by  the  artillery  and  irregular  Turkish  troops.  The  city 
trembled  with  the  booming  of  cannons,  and  the  volleys  of 
fire,  and  the  thrilling  sound  of  musketry.  Large  bonfires, 
and  iron  baskets  filled  with  pitch  and  tar,  were  lighted  in 
conspicuous  places,  so  as  to  make  it  seem  that  some  of  the 
buildings  had  taken  fire ;  and  by  their  light  we  saw  men 
scaling  the  walls,  and  to  all  appearance  large  masses  of 
stone  were  hurled  upon  them.  The  cannons  and  battering- 
rams  were  dragged  along,  and  troops  were  rushing  inces- 
santly across  the  Castle  Square.  We  heard  the  cries  and 
shouts  of  the  soldiers.  At  last  the  tower  was  taken  and 
victory  proclaimed.  The  bugles,  drums,  fifes,  and  pipes, 
and  tum-tums  sounded.  The  whole  affair  was  exceedingly 
well  managed,  and  gave  us  a  vivid  idea  of  the  actual  sieges 
which  Jerusalem  has  from  time  to  time  suiFered.  In  Scrip- 
tural and  other  historic  records  descriptions  or  notices  of 
no  less  than  thirty-four  distinct  and  successful  sieges  of 
the  city  may  be  found. 

A  large  party  assembled  afterward  at  the  English  Con- 
sulate, including  the  Pasha  and  his  suite,  the  commander 
of  the  Turkish  troops,  and  several  Consuls  and  travelers. 
Among  the  latter  was  Lord  Abercrombie,  who  had  only 
arrived  a  few  hours  before.  He  with  his  party  had  crossed 
the  desert  on  their  way  from  Cairo,  and  had  been  detained 
in  quarantine  for  a  few  days  at  Hebron.  They  came  in 
sight  of  Jerusalem  at  about  midday,  when  the  flashing  of 
guns  and'  the  booming  of  cannons  so  much  alarmed  them 
that  they  were  on  the  point  of  retreating  to  the  coast  for 
safety,  thinking  that  the  city  was  in  a  state  of  insurrection. 
However,  when  they  were  informed  of  the  true  cause  of 
the  firing,  they  eagerly  proceeded  on  their  way  to  join  in 
the  festivities. 


CHURCH   OF   THE   HOLY   SEPULCHER.  321 

On  Saturday,  April  26tli,  or  Holy  Saturday,  the  day 
preceding  the  Greek  Easter,  I  visited  the  Church  of  the 
Holy  Sepulcher,  to  witness  what  is  said  to  be  the  miracu- 
lous kindling  of  the  sacred  fire  over  the  tomb  of  Christ. 
After  traversing  a  few  winding  and  windowless  streets, 
stony  and  irregular,  and  then  almost  deserted,  we  entered 
the  busy  bazar  which  leads  to  the  church.  Here  all  was 
bustle  and  confusion;  buyers  and  sellers  paused  to  watch 
the  concourse  of  people  hastening  to  the  festivals.  We 
passed  under  an  archway,  and  found  ourselves  opposite  the 
beautiful  facade,  with  its  double  doorway  and  sculptured 
friezes.  It  was  about  half-past  eleven.  The  square  court 
was  lined  with  Turkish  soldiers.  The  surrounding  terraces 
and  house-tops  were  covered  with  women  shrouded  in  white 
sheets,  and  forming  picturesque  groups,  sitting  and  standing 
in  the  dazzling  sunlight.  Crowds  of  Greeks  and  Arme- 
nians were  entering  in  at  the  door.  I  was  met  there  by 
Mons.  Lesselle,  the  Canceliere  of  the  French  Consulate, 
and  with  difficulty  he  led  me  into  the  church,  and  across 
the  area  of  the  rotunda,  where  all  was  confusion  and  ex- 
citement. The  pilgrims  were  running  and  leaping  in  all 
directions,  uttering  wild  cries,  and  a  monotonous  sort  of 
chant.  The  noise  was  almost  bewildering.  With  Mons. 
Lesselle's  assistance  I  climbed  up  a  steep  platform,  and 
then  ascended  a  tottering  staircase,  which  led  to  the  Latin 
gallery  on  the  north  side  of  the  rotunda. 

One  portion  of  it  had  been  set  apart  for  strangers,  and 
I  was  glad  to  be  safely  placed  there.  It  was  like  a  large 
opera-box,  with  heavy  but  insecure  railings  in  front,  close 
to  which  chairs  were  occupied  by  a  Dutch  Baroness  and 
her  daughter,  a  monk,  and  the  celebrated  Abbe  Ratisbon, 
an  American  lady  and  a  Scottish  lady,  to  all  of  whom  I 
had  been  previously  introduced.  There  were  several  Arab 
women  seated  on  the  matted  floor  in  the  back  part  of  the 
box,  smoking  narghiles.  Among  them  I  recognized  with 
pleasure  the  lady  at  whose  house  I  had  rested  at  Ramleh. 
After  I  had  exchanged  greetings  with  her  I  went  forward, 


322  DOMESTIC   LIFE  IN  PALESTINE. 

and  took  the  seat  in  front  prepared  for  me,  and  looked 
down  on  to  the  strange  scene  below.  In  the  center  of 
the  extensive  area  of  the  Rotunda  rises  the  carved  and 
decorated  marble  shrine  over  what  is  supposed  to  be  the 
tomb  of  Christ.  The  top  of  it  was  on  a  level  with  us. 
Wild-looking  men,  with  their  clothes  disordered,  and  their 
caps  and  tarbilshes  torn  off — some  with  their  long  hair 
streaming,  others  with  their  shaven  heads  exposed — were 
performing  a  sort  of  gallopade  round  it.  They  jumped, 
they  climbed  on  each  other's  shoulders,  they  tossed  their 
arms  into  the  air,  dancing  a  frantic  dance,  that  would 
have  suited  some  Indian  festival.  Sometimes  this  revelry 
was  arrested  for  a  moment,  only  to  commence  in  another 
form. 

The  actors,  whose  numbers  had  been  continually  aug- 
menting, stood  in  groups,  in  little  circles,  tossing  their 
heads  and  arms  backward  and  forward  to  a  monotonous 
cry,  which  grew  louder  and  louder  every  minute,  as  the 
movements  of  heads  and  arms  became  more  rapid.  They 
kept  this  up  till  they  looked  mad  with  excitement,  and 
they  beat  themselves  and  each  other  fearfully.  Then  they 
broke  up  the  separate  circles,  and  ran  round  and  round 
the  sepulcher  again,  with  frightful  rapidity,  heedless  of 
trampling  one  another  under  foot.  Here  and  there  a 
priest  was  giving  himself  up  to  the  frenzy  of  the  people, 
and,  to  gain  a  reputation  for  sanctity,  he  allowed  himself 
to  be  most  unceremoniously  handled.  His  cap  was  torn 
off,  and  he  himself  was  lifted  up  and  carried  in  triumph 
round  and  round  the  shrine.  The  pilgrims  believe  that 
the  fire  would  never  come  down  on  the  tomb  unless  bands 
of  the  faithful  thus  encircled  it. 

In  the  mean  time  I  had  a  pleasant  chat  with  the 
Baroness.  She  had  been  six  months  on  the  Nile.  She 
said,  "  My  husband  is  dead,  and  I  have  no  son ;  my 
daughter  and  I  are  alone  in  the  world.  We  travel  every- 
where together,  and  alone ;  we  have  seen  every  people  of 
Europe."     The  Abbe  Ratisbon   directed   our  attention   to 


THE  HOLY  FIRE.  323 

a  change  in  the  scenes  going  on  below.  The  wild  mob 
had  been  driven  back  to  make  room  for  the  entrance  of 
an  orderly  procession,  formed  of  bishops  and  priests  in 
gorgeous  robes.  They  carried  silk  and  gold-embroidered 
banners,  and  chanted  with  solemnity  and  great  emotion 
a  beautiful  litany,  while  they  walked  three  times  slowly 
round  the  sepulcher.  A  path  had  been  made  for  them  by 
a  body  of  Turkish  soldiers,  who  lined  the  inner  and  outer 
circle  of  the  rotunda.  They  behaved  with  praiseworthy 
impassiveness,  and  they  actually  looked  like  automata. 
But  the  impatient  pilgrims  came  forward  again,  bursting 
wildly  through  the  ranks.  The  procession  of  priests  was 
broken,  and  soon  disappeared  altogether.  The  soldiers 
retired,  and  the  people  recommenced  their  frantic  dance 
round  and  round  the  sepulcher  with  renewed  energy.  The 
Arab  worshipers  shouted  from  time  to  time: 

Christ,  the  Son  of  God,  died  for  us ! 
Christ,  the  Son  of  God,  rose  for  us ! 
This  is  the  tomb  of  Christ  our  Savior  I 
God  preserve  the  Sultan ! 
Christ,  the  Son  of  Mary,  died  for  us ! 
Christ,  the  Son  of  Mary,  rose  for  us! 
This  is  the  tomb  of  Christ  our  Savior  I 
God  preserve  the  Sultan !" 

All  the  galleries,  and  even  the  niches  in  the  square 
columns,  were  now  occupied  by  lookers-on.  Kamil  Pasha 
and  his  suite  were  in  a  box  of  the  Latin  gallery  imme- 
diately above  us.  The  French  Consul,  my  brother,  and 
several  English  travelers  were  also  present.  For  about 
two  hours  the  above  scenes  lasted.  Then  I  observed  a 
break  in  the  crowd  exactly  opposite  to  an  oval  aperture 
which  looked  into  the  inclosure  of  the  sepulcher.  A 
priest  in  bright-yellow  silk  robes  advanced  toward  it, 
and  was  welcomed  with  wild  cries.  He  stooped  forward, 
and  thrust  his  head  and  shoulders  and  one  arm  through 
the  hole,  quite  blocking  it  up.  In  this  awkward  posture 
he  remained  for  a  long  time,  and  allowed  himself  to  be 
beaten  severely  by  the  people  who  clustered  round  him. 


324  DOMESTIC   LIFE   IN   PALESTINE. 

There  was  a  terrible  struggle  to  try  to  gain  a  position 
commanding  a  view  of  this  priest;  for  he  it  was  who  would 
distribute  the  sacred  flame.  He  was,  for  the  occasion, 
called  the  "Priest  of  the  Holy  Fire,"  and  had  paid  a  large 
sum  of  money  for  the  privilege  of  receiving  the  sacred 
flame  from  the  hands  of  the  "Bishop  of  the  Holy  Fire," 
who  was  within  the  tomb,  almost  in  a  state  of  nudity. 
Every  one  in  the  area  had  either  a  torch  or  a  taper  ready 
to  be  lighted. 

A  pause  of  eager  expectancy  —  a  silence  almost  as 
exciting  as  the  noise  —  was  succeeded  by  a  startling  and 
tremendous  shout,  which  shook  the  building  to  its  founda- 
tion. A  voice  from  within  the  sepulcher  had  proclaimed 
that  the  miraculous  fire  was  kindled !  The  priest  now 
drew  forth  his  head  from  the  hole,  and  held  up  a  mass 
of  fire,  amid  cries  of  thanksgiving  and  rejoicing  from  the 
multitude. 

In  less  than  a  minute  a  hundred  torches  were  burning 
brightly,  and  soon  the  light  spread  all  round  the  Rotunda. 
We  looked  down  upon  the  waving  firebrands  and  flaming 
torches,  held  up  by  naked  arms  outstretched  exultingly — 
the  men  themselves  could  scarcely  be  seen  through  the  sea 
of  fire  and  smoke.  At  this  juncture  there  appeared  to  be 
a  very  suspicious  movement  in  the  crowd.  The  Armenians 
and  Greeks  were  evidently  attacking  each  other  angrily, 
and  trying  to  extinguish  each  other's  torches.  One  sect 
was  jealous  of  the  other.  The  sacred  flame  from  heaven, 
as  they  called  it,  had  been  distributed  unequally,  and  it 
was  said  that  the  priest  of  the  fire  had  conveyed  it  to  one 
party  before  the  other,  instead  of  giving  it  to  them  at  the 
very  same  instant,  according  to  the  regular  stipulations. 
This  priority,  real  or  pretended,  was  the  pretext  for  a 
general  fight.  Every  hand  was  raised  in  defense  or  offense. 
Flaming  torches  were  tossed  about  recklessly,  and  clubs, 
kurbages,  and  sticks  were  raised.  The  Turkish  soldiers 
were  recalled,  but  at  first  they  only  seemed  to  add  to  the 
general  confusion.     After  about  ten  minutes'  violent  con- 


SCENES  AT   THE   CHURCH.  325 

flict,  the  Armenians  succeeded  in  driving  the  Greeks  into 
their  church,  which  is  on  the  eastern  side  of  the  Rotunda. 
The  great  brass  gates  were  closed  upon  them,  and  for  about 
five  minutes  there  was  comparative  peace  and  silence. 

The  Pasha,  with  his  suite,  descended  from  the  gallery 
above  us,  and  was  making  his  way  across  the  area,  when 
the  Greeks  suddenly  burst  out  of  their  church,  and  before 
His  Excellency  could  pass,  another  contest  arose,  more 
dangerous  and  exciting  than  the  first. 

Clubs  and  sticks  were  thrown  down  into  the  area  to  the 
Greeks,  through  the  high  windows  looking  from  the  ter- 
raced roof  of  their  neighboring  convent.  The  Armenians 
were  so  well  provided  with  such  weapons,  some  of  which 
were  spiked,  that  it  was  supposed  that  the  outbreak  was 
premeditated. 

Wild  cries  and  heavy  blows  resounded  on  all  sides,  with- 
out intermission.  The  Pasha  himself  was  roughly  handled, 
and  he  lost  some  of  his  decorations  in  the  scuffle.  The 
Commander  of  the  Cavalry  was  thrown  down,  and  several 
people  high  in  authority  were  attacked  by  the  infuriated 
mob.  Large  pieces  of  wood  were  hurled  up  against  the  gal- 
leries, where,  to  add  to  the  confusion,  most  of  the  spectators 
were  crying  and  screaming  with  fright.  The  door  of  our 
box  was  suddenly  opened,  and  a  number  of  women  shrouded 
in  white  sheets  were  pushed  in  for  safety — then  the  door 
was  closed  again. 

"We  who  were  in  front  were  in  danger  of  falling  into  the 
area  below,  for  the  wooden  railings  were  tottering  and 
leaning  outward  at  an  angle  of  nearly  forty-five  degrees. 
I  had  great  difficulty  in  keeping  the  Arab  women  from 
■pressing  forward,  and  thus  pushing  us  over.  They  all 
seemed  panic-stricken,  and  were  sobbing  convulsively.  The 
Dutch  Baroness  was  distracted  with  fear,  not  for  herself, 
but  for  her  only  daughter,  who,  however,  was  perfectly 
self-possessed  and  calm,  and  tried  to  inspire  those  around 
her  with  courage.  The  monk  and  Abbe  Ratisbon  looked 
pale  and  terrified.     The  latter  said  to  me,  "It  is  not  fear, 


326  DOMESTIC   LIFE   IN   PALESTINE. 

Mademoiselle,  but  indignation  that  excites  me."  The  sol- 
diers were  endeavoring  to  clear  the  church,  and  it  was  ex- 
pected that  they  would  receive  orders  to  fire  on  the  obsti- 
nate fanatics,  who,  not  content  with  injuring  each  other, 
began  to  attack  the  building  itself.  Pictures  of  saints  and 
martyrs  were  destroyed  by  sharp-pointed  sticks  being  thrust 
into  them.  The  carved  and  gilt  wooden  vases,  which  orna- 
mented the  tawdry,  cage-like  covering  of  the  tomb,  were 
deliberately  aimed  at  and  knocked  down ;  and  two  priests, 
who  had  intrepidly  climbed  on  to  the  top,  to  try  to  preserve 
the  crystal  and  silver  lamps  and  other  valuables  there,  were 
pelted  piteously.  As  soon  as  the  ornaments  were  displaced 
they  were  picked  up,  and  used  as  missiles  wherewith  to 
assault  the  galleries.  Many  a  large  piece  glanced  close  to 
us,  who  were  near  the  front,  but  happily  we  escaped  injury. 
The  Scottish  lady  was  so  overcome  with  alarm  that  she 
fainted,  and  then  at  my  urgent  request  the  Arab  women 
fell  back  as  far  as  they  could,  to  make  room  for  her  to 
recover  herself,  and  to  enable  us  to  retreat  a  few  inches 
from  the  railings  in  front  of  the  box.  The  conflict  became 
more  and  more  furious.  We  saw  terrible  wounds  inflicted, 
blood  flowing  from  shaven  heads,  frightful  gashes  on  up- 
lifted faces,  and  people  thrown  down  and  trampled  on. 
Screams,  imprecations,  and  desperate  prayers  resounded. 
For  more  than  a  quarter  of  an  hour  this  fierce  fight  lasted  j 
then,  by  degrees,  it  abated,  and  the  Turkish  soldiers  suc- 
ceeded in  driving  out  the  chief  of  the  combatants,  not, 
however,  without  receiving  some  serious  blows. 

When  the  place  was  partially  cleared,  we  saw  that  the 
marble  pavement  of  the  Rotunda  was  strewed  with  frag- 
ments of  glass,  silver  chains,  bits  of  carving,  broken  tapers, 
torches,  and  tarbushes,  and  the  entire  surface  shone  with 
oil,  which  had  streamed  from  the  hundreds  of  lamps 
thrown  down  and  crushed  under  foot.  We  were  hoping 
that  our  friends  were  all  safe,  when  to  our  relief  they  ap- 
peared crossing  the  area  with  the  English  travelers  who 
had  been  present.     They  all  looked  pale  and  anxious,  for 


OUR  RETURN  HOME.  327 

they  understood  "better  than  we  did  the  dangers  which  had 
threatened  us.  They  had  greatly  feared  that  the  wood- 
work of  the  building  would  take  fire,  when  escape  from  the 
galleries  would  have  been  almost  impossible.  They  ap- 
proached to  assure  us  of  our  safety,  and  begged  that  we 
would  wait  quietly  till  they  could  come  for  us.  The  French 
Consul  and  the  Commander  of  the  Cavalry  paused  just  be- 
low our  box.  They  seemed  very  much  excited ;  the  former 
said,  "  I  pray  you,  ladies,  do  not  attempt  to  stir  yet." 

Some  time  elapsed  before  it  was  considered  prudent  to 
allow  us  to  leave  our  retreat,  for  the  fight  was  being  car- 
ried on  desperately  in  the  court  and  streets  outside  the 
church.  At  last  the  French  Consul,  my  brother,  and  sev- 
eral friends  came  for  us,  and  we  were  led  away.  I  found 
that  the  oil  floating  over  the  marble  floor  was  at  least  a 
quarter  of  an  inch  deep.  The  Turkish  soldiers  still  had 
possession  of  the  building.  They  had  behaved  with  great 
moderation  during  the  whole  of  the  riot,  and  apparently 
did  all  they  could  to  prevent  bloodshed.  They  had  quite 
cleared  the  outer  courf  when  we  crossed  it,  and  were  stand- 
ing all  round  it  with  fixed  bayonets.  But  the  streets  were 
obstructed  by  groups  of  quarrelsome  people,  and  with  diffi- 
culty the  kawasses  cleared  a  way  for  us.  When  we  were 
safe  at  the  Consulate,  my  brother  returned  to  the  Sepul- 
cher,  to  see  what  damage  had  been  done.  He  took,  with- 
out opposition,  from  the  hands  of  an  Armenian,  a  heavy 
stick,  five  feet  long  and  three  inches  in  diameter,  and  he 
examined  a  great  number  which  were  armed  with  spikes. 

The  Pasha  held  a  council  immediately,  and  it  was  de- 
cided that  the  Greek  and  Armenian  services  should  for  the 
future  be  held  at  difierent  hours,  so  that  such  disgraceful 
and  dangerous  collisions  in  the  church  might  be  avoided. 
It  was  ascertained  that  very  few  deaths  had  occurred,  but 
some  serious  injuries  had  been  inflicted. 

I  have  conversed  with  many  educated  Greeks,  both 
priests  and  laymen,  on  the  nature  of  this  ceremony,  and  I 
found  that,  without  exception,  they  were  heartily  ashamed 


328  DOMESTIC   LIFE   IN   PALESTINE. 

of  it.  8ome  of  them  plainly  admitted  that  it  was  an  im- 
posture, others  called  it  a  pious  fraud,  hut  all  agreed  that 
it  would  not  be  advisable  to  disturb  the  faith  of  the  mass 
of  the  people,  who  were  thoroughly  impressed  by  the  belief 
that  God  himself  descends,  and  with  his  glorious  presence 
kindles  the  fire  over  the  tomb  every  year  on  Holy  Saturday. 
One  Greek  priest,  a  kind  and  earnest  man,  said  to  me,  pri- 
vately, "  If  it  were  possible,  which  is  rather  doubtful,  to 
destroy  the  wide-spread  and  deep-rooted  reliance  on  the 
reality  and  genuineness  of  this  miracle,  we  should  do  more 
harm  than  good,  for  we  should  at  the  same  time  inevitably 
shake  the  faith  of  thousands ;  they  would  doubt  all  things, 
even  the  existence  of  God ;  they  would  abandon  the  Holy 
Church,  and  be  left  without  any  religion  to  guide  them." 

I  could  sympathize  with  him  heartily,  for  his  was  a  very 
difficult  position.  But  I  felt  more  strongly  than  ever  what 
a  mistake  it  is,  to  try  to  support  that  which  is  believed  to  he 
the  truth  hy  that  which  is  known  to  he  false. 

Unhappily,  the  argument  used  by  that  amiable  but  fet- 
tered priest  is  a  very  common  one.  Religion  has  been  so 
incumbered  with  forms  and  ceremonies,  that  the  ceremonies 
are,  by  the  mass  of  the  people,  mistaken  for  or  confounded 
with  the  essence  of  religion. 

Men  fear  to  disturb  them  now,  lest  truth  and  error  should 
fall  at  the  same  time,  as  if  they  thought  that  religion  in  its 
simplicity  and  purity  could  not  stand  alone. 

When  will  truth  be  fully,  trusted  and  be  permitted  to 
triumph?  When  will  people  believe  that  truth  is  stronger 
and  safer  than  trickery  and  wrong,  and  that  there  is  always 
danger  in  teaching  and  supporting  an  error,  but  no  danger 
in  acknowledging  one? 


"  Ye  shall  know  tho  truth,  and  the  truth  shall  make  you  free."    John  yiii,  32. 

"Clothe  not  the  truth  with  vanity,  neither  conceal  the  truth  against  your  own 
knowledge."     Koran,  ch.  ii,  Sale's  Translation. 

"The  very  essence  of  truth  is  i)lainnesH  and  brightness." — STiUon. 

"Great  is  the  truth  and  stronger  than  all  things  ;  it  liveth  and  conquereth  for 
evermore ;  she  is  the  strength,  kingdom,  power,  and  majesty  of  all  ages.  Blessed 
be  the  God  of  Truth."— Zorofcabei, 


FmE-WOBSHIPERS.  329 

Some  people  defended  the  celebration  of  the  festival  be- 
cause it  was  an  ancient  custom ;  but,  as  Cyprian  says, 

•'  Custom  without  truth  is  but  agedness  of  error." 

Unfortunately,  there  is  another  powerful  motive  for  keep- 
ing up  this  solemn  jugglery.  Large  sums  of  money  are 
spent  in  Palestine  every  year  by  the  pilgrims,  who  come 
from  all  parts  of  Russia,  Greece,  and  Turkey,  and  the  peo- 
ple of  Jerusalem,  Bethlehem,  and  Nazareth  naturally  regard 
Easter  as  their  harvest-time. 

Priests,  shopkeepers,  relic-manufacturers,  householders, 
owners  of  camels,  horses,  and  other  beasts  of  burden,  would 
all  more  or  less  feel  it,  if  the  annual  pilgrimages  were  to 
cease ;  and  as  the  holy  fire  is  the  chief  attraction,  the 
temptation  to  encourage  the  delusion  is  very  great. 

Is  this  strange  ceremony  a  relic  of  the  services  of  the 
fire- worshipers  of  old?  There  are  two  or  three  Moslem 
shrines  which  are  said  to  be  miraculously  illumined  on  cer- 
tain days,  and  I  am  told  that  as  early  as  the  ninth  century 
the  Syrian  Christians  believed  that  an  angel  of  God  was 
appointed  to  light  the  lamps  over  the  tomb  of  Christ  on 
every  Easter-eve. 

28 


330  DOMESTIC  LIFE  IN  PALESTINE. 


CHAPTER  XII. 

DOMESTIC  LIFE  IN  JERUSALEM. 

About  an  hour  before  the  sun  went  down,  on  Holy  Sat- 
urday, we  rode  out  of  the  city,  glad  to  breathe  the  fresh 
air  after  the  fatigue  and  excitement  of  the  morning.  We 
passed  out  of  the  Yafa  Gate,  and  went  all  round  Jerusalem, 
close  to  the  walls.  I  saw  a  number  of  poor  peasant-girls 
coming  out  of  the  olive-grove  opposite  to  the  Damascus 
Gate.  They  wore  tattered  white  cotton  vails  and  home- 
spun purple  linen  dresses.  They  were  barefooted,  but  they 
all  looked  merry,  and  carried  boughs  of  trees  and  flowers 
in  their  brown  hands.  One  of  the  youngest  had  a  branch 
of  hawthorn,  with  glossy  green  leaves  and  several  bunches 
of  white  blossom  on  it.  It  was  the  first  bit  of  "May"  I 
had  seen,  and,  well  pleased,  I  stopped  my  horse  and  asked 
the  girl  if  she  would  give  me  a  part  of  it.  She  looked  up 
good-naturedly,  and,  seeing  a  rosebud  fastened  in  my  habit, 
she  said,  "  Lady,  if  you  will  give  me  the  flower  which  grows 
in  your  bosom,  you  shall  have  my  hawthorn  blossom."  So 
we  made  the  exchange. 

On  the  2d  of  May  news  reached  us  of  serious  skirmishes  • 
between  the  rival  factions  in  the  district  of  Jenin.  The 
little  mud-built  village  called  "Khubeiseh,"  which  we 
passed  through  on  our  way  to  Kefr  Ksira,  had  been  the 
scene  of  conflict,  and  many  people  whom  we  knew  had  been 
engaged  in  it. 

On  the  5th  my  brother  started  for  Haifa,  by  way  of 
Nablus  and  Jenin,  and  I  was  once  more  left  with  my  kind 
friends  at  the  Consulate,  where  I  enjoyed  leisure  and  ex- 
cellent opportunities  for  sketching,  studying,  and  observing 
all  that  was  going  on  around  me. 


SIROCCO    WIND.  331 

There  was  no  more  rain,  and  the  sun  was  daily  increas- 
ing in  power.  English  travelers  continued  to  arrive  every 
few  days,  and  I  often  had  the  pleasure  of  accompanying 
and  guiding  them  in  their  "Walks  ahout  Jerusalem,"  and 
their  excursions  in  the  neighborhood. 

Roses  were  abundant  at  this  time.  It  was  the  season  for 
making  rose-wat«r  and  conserves.  The  peasant-women 
brought  basket-loads  -of  roses  into  town  every  morning. 
Often  at  sunrise  these  women  might  be  seen  pausing  on 
their  way  by  a  streamlet,  to  empty  their  baskets  into  the 
rippling  water,  literally  making  a  bed  of  roses  for  the  river. 
Perhaps  they  do  this,  as  they  say,  only  to  wash  their 
flowers,  and  to  make  them  keep  fresh  and  look  as  if  wet 
with  dew;  but  /  thinh  it  is  more  probable  that  they  wish 
to  make  their  roses  heavy,  for  they  sell  them  in  the  market 
by  weight. 

On  Wednesday,  May  7th,  a  hot,  oppressive,  sirocco  wind 
prevailed.  Early  in  the  afternoon  I  rode  out  with  little 
Skander  Finn  and  his  cousin  L.  We  went  down  into  the 
valley  of  Hinnom,  where  hawthorns,  covered  with  pink  and 
white  blossom,  scented  the  air.  The  olive-trees  were  in 
flower,  and  the  fig-trees  green  with  fresh  leaves.  We  passed 
the  Aceldama,  and  reached  En  Eogel.  There  was  no  water 
in  the  rocky  river-bed;  however,  it  had  not  flowed  in  vain. 
The  reservoirs  were  filled,  and  the  parched  earth  revived. 
Wc  went  a  little  way  down  the  valley,  crossed  the  dry  bed, 
and  dismounted.  We  climbed  half-way  up  the  hill  on  the 
left-hand  side,  and  reached  a  ledge  or  natural  terrace  in 
front  of  a  steep  clifl",  which  L.  assured  me  was  caverned, 
though  no  signs  of  a  cavern  could  be  seen.  The  ledge  was 
so  overgrown  with  tall  thistles  that  it  was  difficult  to  find 
a  footing;  we  beat  these  down,  and  found  the  door  which 
they  concealed.  The  top  of  the  door  was  only  slightly 
above  the  level  of  the  terrace,  which  sloped  abruptly  down 
to  it,  like  the  entrance  to  an  underground  cellar,  but  with- 
out any  steps.  With  the  help  of  Hadj  Ali  and  his  stick, 
and  by  clinging  to  roots  and  weeds,  we  contrived  to  slide 


332  DOMESTIC    LIFE   IN  PALESTINE. 

down  and  pass  through  the  doorway,  which  I  measured, 
and  found  it  was  four  feet  by  seven,  cut  in  the  solid  rock. 
After  a  minute  or  two  we  became  accustomed  to  the  sudden 
darkness,  and  could  partially  distinguish  the  objects  around 
us.  On  the  left  side,  just  within  the  cavern,  there  was  an 
immense  pedestal,  quite  plain.  We  went  down  slipping  and 
sliding,  cautiously,  one  after  the  other,  down  deeper  and 
deeper  into  the  darkness,  till  we  came  to  a  column,  about 
twelve  feet  in  circumference,  supporting  a  roof  which  ap- 
peared to  me  to  be  about  twenty  feet  above  us.  The  base 
of  this  column  was  far  below  the  level  of  the  door,  but  as 
it  was  nearly  opposite  to  it,  it  caught  on  one  side  a  little 
reflected  light,  and  there  maiden-hair  grew  luxuriantly,  but 
the  other  sides  of  the  pillar  were  only  clothed  with  pale 
mosses  and  drooping  fungus  assuming  grotesque  forms.  I 
removed  a  mass  of  maiden-hair  to  examine  the  nature  of 
the  native  rock  of  which  the  pillar  was  formed.  It  was 
quite  white,  and  crumbled  easily  beneath  my  touch. 

In  the  mean  time  L.  and  Skander  were  exploring  the 
distant  recesses,  and  their  spirit-like  figures,  gliding  about 
in  the  darkness  below,  gave  some  idea  of  the  depth  and  ex- 
tent of  the  cavern.  The  floor,  which  was  of  loamy  earth, 
continued  to  slope  downward.  There  were  three  other 
massive  columns ;  the  ftirthest  one,  I  should  think,  must  be 
about  thirty  feet  high.  My  guides  warned  me  not  to  fol- 
low, for  they  had  come  to  a  large,  though  shallow,  pool  of 
water.  The  rain  had  streamed  down  the  steep  bank,  and 
had  made  for  itself  a  smooth  channel  to  the  bottom  of  the 
cavern,  carpeting  the  way  with  rich  soil  from  the  surface  of 
the  terrace  above.  Water  was  trickling  slowly  down  the 
walls  and  from  the  roof.  Bats,  disturbed  by  our  approach, 
blundered  against  us  now  and  then,  and  the  damp,  cold, 
deathlike  atmosphere  made  us  shiver.  We  climbed  up 
again,  and  Hadj  Ali  helped  us  to  reach  the  thistle-grown 
terrace  in  safety.  We  were  gasping  for  a  breath  of  fresh 
air,  and  rested  for  a  minute  or  two  blinking  in  the  dazzling 
daylight  and  basking  in  the  warm  sunshine. 


EXPLORATIONS.  333 

Then  we  scrambled  over  rugged  rocks  and  through 
thickets  of  thorns  and  thistles  till  we  came  to  a  large  recess 
in  a  steep  white  cliflf.  It  was  like  a  room,  entirely  open  on 
one  side,  about  eleven  feet  in  hight,  ten  feet  deep,  and  four- 
teen feet  wide.  It  was,  to  all  appearance,  a  natural  exca- 
vation which  had  been  partially  squared  by  human  art.  In 
some  places  the  ceiling  looked  as  if  it  had  once  been  coated 
with  rough  cement.  The  white  walls  were  rather  damp, 
and  were  garnished  with  maiden-hair  of  the  finest  kind  I 
had  ever  seen,  and  many  plants  which  love  the  shade  were 
flourishing  there.  Out  of  every  crevice  some  delicate  leaf 
or  tendril  crept.  This  cave  was  no  doubt  formerly  inhab- 
ited by  human  beings  ;  kings,  priests,  and  prophets  of  old 
may  have  lodged  here. 

Skander  had  climbed  higher  up  the  hill,  and  now  called 
to  us,  saying,  "I  have  found  a  wonderful  place  up  here — 
come  and  see."  With  difficulty  we  followed,  and  found  him 
stretched  flat  on  his  face,  peering  into  a  dark  opening,  about 
one  foot  high  and  six  feet  broad,  close  to  the  ground ;  he 
said  it  was  like  a  large  fox-hole.  I  could  not  possibly  enter 
this  cave,  but  I  stopped  and  looked  in,  and  could  see  that 
there  were  some  ancient  sepulchers  within ;  I  counted  four. 
They  were,  I  believe,  cut  in  the  solid  rock,  and  were  orna- 
mented with  bold,  efiective  moldings  and  bosses.  This  place 
seems  to  be  worthy  of  careful  exploration.  The  entrance  is 
likely  soon  to  be  quite  concealed  by  the  stones  and  debris 
falling  from  above,  and  the  tangled  masses  of  vegetation  near 
it.  There  is  no  tradition  connected  with  it,  and  it  is  on  that 
account,  perhaps,  that  it  is  so  rarely  pointed  out  to  travelers. 

We  mounted  and  rode  homeward,  looking  toward  the 
south-east  corner  of  the  Holy  City.  The  sunlight  was 
gleaming  on  the  terraces  just  below  it,  and  it  tinged  with 
an  emerald  luster  the  fields  of  barley  there.  On  the  right, 
above  En  Rogel,  the  ruins  of  Siloam  appeared,  and  we 
could  just  see  Absalom's  Pillar.*     As  we  rode  round  the 

*  It  is  this  view  which  the  lamented  Mr.  Sedden  painted  so  faithfully.    The 
picture  is  in  the  South  Kensington  Museum. 


334  DOMESTIC   LIFE   IN   PALESTINE. 

base  of  Mount  Zion,  Hadj  Ali  gathered  a  beautiful  branch 
of  a  pomegranate- tree,  covered  with  bright  blossoms,  the 
first  I  had  seen  that  year. 

We  remembered  that  Ramadan,  the  month  when  the 
followers  of  Mohammed  fast  by  day  and  feast  by  night, 
had  commenced  on  the  previous  Sunday ;  so  we  hastened 
on,  that  Hadj  Ali  might  prepare  his  evening  meal,  and 
be  ready  to  eat  it  at  the  moment  of  the  firing  of  the 
^^mogarib"  the  signal  gun  at  sunset — the  sound  so  welcome 
to  hungering  and  thirsty  Moslems.  Poor  Hadj  Ali  had 
not  taken  food  or  even  smoked  a  pipe  since  sunrise.  This 
fast,  which  lasts  for  thirty  days,  is  observed  with  extra- 
ordinary fidelity  by  people  of  all  classes.* 

On  Thursday,  May  28th,  I  was  invited  to  visit  the 
new  schools  for  young  Jewesses,  established  by  Sir  Moses 
Montefiore.  The  morning  was  bright  and  dazzling.  We 
passed  the  barracks,  and  entered  the  street  leading  to  the 
Armenian  convent.  The  sun  was  almost  vertical,  and  the 
polished  stone  pavement  reflected  back  the  heat  and  light. 
The  high  walls  of  the  houses  on  each  side  scarcely  cast  a 
line  of  shadow :  only  the  little  casement  windows  jutting 
out  here  and  there,  and  the  bright  flowers  which  climbed 
through  the  trellis-work,  or  hung  from  the  roofs,  traced 
fantastic  and  delicate  shadows  on  the  ground.  Not  a. 
breath  of  air  was  stirring.  It  was  midday,  and  no  one 
was   to   be   seen   in   the    broad,   unsheltered,   silent   street, 

*  In  the  second  chapter  of  the  Koran  the  rules  for  observing  Bamadan  are 
given  thus: 

"  0  true  believers,  a  fast  is  ordained  unto  you,  as  it  was  ordained  unto  those 
before  you,  that  ye  may  fear  God. 

"  The  month  of  Ramadan  is  the  month  of  fasting,  in  which  the  Koran  was  sent 
down  from  heaven — a  direction  unto  men,  and  declarations  of  direction,  and  the 
distinction  between  good  and  evil,  therefore  let  him  among  you  who  shall  be 
dwelling  at  home  in  this  month  fast  the  same  month;  but  he  who  shall  be  sick  or  on 
a  journey  shall  fast  the  like  number  of  other  days.  God  would  make  this  an  ease 
unto  you,  that  ye  may  fulfill  the  number  of  days,  and  glorify  God  for  that  he  hath 
directed  you,  and  that  ye  may  give  thanks.     .     .     . 

"  It  is  lawful  for  you  to  eat  and  drink  at  night  until  ye  can  plainly  distinguish 
a  whUe  thread  from  a  black  thread  by  the  daybreak ;  then  keep  the  fast  until  sunset." 

According  to  Moslem  divines  there  are  three  degrees  of  fasting.  The  first  and 
second  are  strictly  material ;  the  third  is  the  fasting  of  the  heart  from  worldly 
cares,  and  the  restraint  of  the  thoughts,  which  must  be  concentrated  on  God. 


SCHOOL   FOR  JEWESSES  335 

where  even  the  dogs  were  sleeping,  as  if  overcome  hy 
the  heat  and  light.  We  turned  to  the  left  and  passed 
a  walled-up  archway,  once  the  entrance  to  an  ancient 
mosque.  We  skirted  the  back  of  the  Armenian  convent, 
and  thus  reached  the  Jewish  quarter,  and  were  very  soon 
knocking  at  the  school-house  door,  over  which  there  was  a 
well-engraved  Hebrew  inscription. 

While  we  waited  for  admittance,  I  looked  up  at  the 
windows.  Two  were  square,  unsheltered  openings;  a  third 
jutted  far  out  from  the  wall,  and  through  its  quaint  and 
fanciful  wooden  lattice  we  could  see  bright  and  rare  flowers; 
the  fourth  was  a  large,  square  oriel  window,  supported  by 
a  stone  bracket,  and  protected  by  an  iron  balcony.  A 
crowd  of  happy-looking  children  were  peeping  from  it. 
One  dark-eyed  little  creature  had  a  red  cloth  tarbush  on 
the  back  of  her  head,  and  a  rose  in  her  black  hair.  The 
others  wore  soft  muslin  kerchiefs  of  various  colors,  tied 
tastefully  on  their  heads. 

We  entered  the  door,  crossed  a  small  court,  and  were 
led  up  an  open  staircase  on  to  a  terrace,  the  low,  broad 
w^alls  of  which  were  converted  into  a  garden.  Flower-pots 
had  been  imbedded  in  the  masonry,  at  regular  distances, 
along  the  top  of  the  parapets.  Thus  a  sort  of  floral 
battlement  was  formed,  and  produced  an  excellent  effect; 
for  the  plants  were  kept  nearly  all  of  the  same  size  and 
hight.  The  rose-bushes,  pinks,  and  cloves,  in  full  flower, 
contrasted  well  with  the  dark-leaved  myrtle,  the  cape 
jasmine,  and   the  white  walls. 

We  were  politely  received  in  this  court  by  a  Spanish 
Jewess,  who  conducted  us  into  a  light,  cheerful  room, 
containing  animated  groups  of  girls,  varying  in  age  from 
seven  to  fourteen,  perhaps.  I  counted  thirty-one  children; 
but  the  full  number  usually  assembled  there  was  thirty- 
five.  Eight  forms  and  a  double  row  of  desks  gave  quite  a 
European  character  to  the  room,  and  the  raised,  pulpit-like 
seat  of  the  teacher  indicated  order  and  authority. 

The  girls  were   nearly  all  engaged  at  needle-work,  and 


836  DOMESTIC  LIFE  IN   PALESTINE. 

our  guide  exhibited  to  us,  with  evident  pride  and  pleasure, 
a  considerable  stock  of  wearing  apparel,  the  result  of  one 
week's  work  in  that  room.  The  simple  garments  were  very 
nicely  made,  considering  that  most  of  the  little  workers 
did  not  know  how  to  sew  six  or  seven  months  before. 
The  mistress  could  not  tell  us  what  was  done  with  the 
work  when  finished,  as  it  passed  from  her  hands  at  the 
end  of  each  week.  The  children  looked  busy  and  bright. 
Some  of  them  were  singularly  beautiful.  One  tall  and 
stately  girl  of  about  fourteen  was  acting  the  part  of 
monitor,  and  she  answered  our  questions,  in  Arabic,  with 
the  utmost  modesty  and  self-possession,  and  glided  among 
her  little  pupils  with  native  grace  and  dignity.  All  these 
children  were  natives  of  Palestine;  they  spoke  Arabic, 
and  wore  the  Arab  costume.  Their  heads  were,  without 
exception,  covered  either  with  muslin  kerchiefs,  or  with 
the  simple  red  tarbiish. 

The  windows  of  this  room  were  large,  and  thrown  wide 
open.  They  looked  eastward,  and  commanded  views  of 
the  whole  extent  of  Olivet,  and  the  misty  Moab  Mountains 
far  away.  The  midday  breeze  sprang  up  suddenly,  and 
slightly  cooled  the  fiery  air. 

After  lingering  for  a  short  time  to  enjoy  the  prospect, 
we  were  led  to  another  room,  equally  large,  light,  and 
airy.  Here  we  found  about  thirty  children,  under  the 
care  of  two  female  teachers.  One  tiny  little  creature  was 
learning  a  Hebrew  lesson,  and  carefully  spelling  words  of 
two  letters.  Another  child  of  seven  or  eight  was  reading, 
with  very  little  hesitation,  some  Scripture  history.  The 
other  children  were  seiated  comfortably,  and  with  perfect 
ease  and  freedom,  yet  without  disorder,  upon  mats,  or  in 
the  deep,  carpeted  window-seat.  There  I  recognized  the 
happy  faces  which  I  had  seen  from  the  street  below. 
They  looked  up  at  me  smiling,  as  much  as  to  say,  "We 
know  you  again;  we  saw  you  waiting  at  the  door." 

They  were  all  at  needle-work,  and  I  could  not  help 
observing  the  extreme  delicacy  and  beauty  of  their  hands. 


JEWISH   SCHOOL  FOR  GIRLS.  337 

If,  as  it  is  said,  this  is  a  distinguishing  feature  of  noble 
birth,  then  these  young  daughters  of  Israel  are  of  princely 
race.  Some  of  the  little  hands  were  stained  with  henna, 
and  almost  all  the  nails  were  tinted,  and  looked  like  the 
delicate,  rose-colored  shells  we  find  on  the  sands  on  English 
shores. 

The  children  were  uniformly  neat  and  clean,  and  there 
was  a  picturesque  variety  of  costume  there  that  struck 
us  pleasantly,  contrasting  with  our  recollections  of  the 
ugly  uniforms  in  some  of  our  public  schools  at  home 
and  abroad.  As  we  were  retiring,  a  shy  little  creature 
summoned  up  courage  to  give  me  the  rose  from  her  hair, 
and  then  she  peeped  at  me  slyly  between  her  tapering 
fingers. 

These  two  rooms  were  set  apart  expressly  for  the  chil- 
dren of  parents  belonging  to  the  Sephardim  Congregation, 
consisting  of  the  Spanish  and  Portuguese  Jews  settled  in 
Jerusalem. 

We  were  now  led  down-stairs  again  to  the  open  court, 
which  we  crossed ;  and,  after  ascending  another  stairway, 
we  found  ourselves  in  the  school  of  the  Ashekenazi  Con- 
gregation, formed  of  German,  Russian,  and  Polish  Jews. 
Here  there  were  fifteen  children,  and  they  all  seemed  to 
be  under  seven  years  of  age.  They  were  much  more  fair, 
though  less  beautiful,  than  those  in  the  other  rooms.  They 
were  sitting,  very  much  at  their  ease,  perched  up  on  the 
sloping  desks,  with  their  little  feet  resting  on  the  forms. 
How  thoughtful  and  kind  it  was  to  allow  them  this  freedom 
during  the  hot  weather!  There  was  not  a  sign  of  fatigue, 
or  any  expression  of  rebellion  against  restraint,  in  any  of 
the  young  faces  around  us.  There  was  activity  of  mind 
and  rest  of  body,  in  a  pure  air. 

The  Jews  of  Jerusalem  are  especially  careful  not  to 
allow  their  children  to  associate  with  Christians  or  Mos- 
lems ;  and  they  will  not  suff'er  them  to  stray  away  from 
home,  or  play  in  the  streets,  for  fear  they  should  learn 
bad  habits,  or  be   constrained  or  induced   to  be   baptized 

29 


338  DOMESTIC    LIFE   IN  PALESTINE. 

into  a  Christian  Church.  Consequently,  the  little  ones 
were  confined  nearly  all  day  in  the  close,  ill-ventilated, 
small  rooms  of  the  Jewish  quarter,  till  this  school  was 
established.  Here  they  assembled  early  in  the  morning, 
and,  taking  proper  hours  for  rest,  recreation,  and  for  meals, 
returned  home  at  sunset.  Already  a  great  improvement  was 
observed  in  their  appearance;  they  looked  more  healthy, 
and  their  lives  were  happier. 

A  little  girl  of  five  years  of  age,  with  pink  cheeks,  blue 
eyes,  and  hair  almost  white,  was  reading  aloud  from  some 
Hebrew  volume,  and  was  evidently  interested  by  it.  I 
cautiously  inquired  whether  she  knew  by  heart  all  that  fell 
so  fluently  from  her  lips.  I  was  assured  that  I  was  listen- 
ing to  genuine  reading. 

We  went  down-stairs  to  the  second  Grerman  room,  where 
most  of  the  girls  were  between  thirteen  and  fifteen  years 
of  age,  and  the  rest  younger.  "VVe  heard  two  of  the  eldest 
read,  with  emphasis,  several  pages  from  the  Life  of  Moses — 
a  book  written  expressly  for  the  use  of  women  and  children. 
It  is  a  paraphrase  of  the  Bible  history  of  Moses,  in  a  curi- 
ous, harsh  dialect,  being  a  compound  of  Hebrew  and  Ger- 
man. It  is  printed  in  Hebrew  characters,  and  embellished 
with  quaint  and  curious  wood-cuts,  in  the  style  of  the  fol- 
lowers of  Albert  Diirer. 

In  these  two  rooms  fifty-five  pupils  generally  muster. 
The  housekeeper,  who  had  guided  us  from  room  to  room, 
then  led  us  to  her  own,  and  exhibited  some  shirts,  which 
she  and  the  elder  pupils  had  been  making  to  order.  They 
were  stitched  and  hem-stitched,  and  neatly  finished  off". 
She  seemed  delighted  with  our  approval  and  praise ;  for 
this  shirt-making  was  quite  a  new  accomplishment,  as  the 
Jews  of  the  East  wear  much  more  simple  under-garments 
than  these. 

We  took  leave  of  her,  and  I  returned  to  the  Consulate, 

very  tired.     My  friends  went  on  to  the  Rothschild  Schools, 

of  which  they  afterward  gave  me  a  very  favorable  report. 

When   I   was  in  Jerusalem,  in  1859    I  made  inquiries 


MODE  OF  PURCHASING  LAND.  339 

about  these  schools,  especially  the  one  established  by  Sir 
M.  Montefiore,  intending  to  visit  it  again.  To  my  surprise 
and  regret,  I  was  told  that  it  no  longer  existed;  and  I 
could  not  obtain  any  satisfactory  account  of  it,  or  under- 
stand why  it  was  broken  up.  I  suppose  that  Oriental  in- 
difference to  female  education  is  the  chief  cause. 

On  the  13th  of  May,  Mrs.  Finn,  in  behalf  of  the  "  Jeru- 
salem Agricultural  Association,"  purchased  a  portion  of  the 
beautiful  valley  of  Urtas.  I  witnessed  the  making  and 
concluding  of  the  bargain.  Ten  of  the  fiercest  and  wildest- 
looking  Arabs  I  had  seen  were  assembled  in  the  office  of 
the  Consulate,  with  their  chief,  a  tall,  powerful  man,  called 
Sheikh  Saph,  whose  family,  local  tradition  says,  has  for 
ages  been  distinguished  for  the  hight  and  strength  of 
its  men.* 

Mrs.  Finn  came  forward,  and  stood  in  the  midst  of  the 
group  of  men,  and  said,  "  0  Sheikh,  do  you  agree  to  sell  ?" 
and  Sheikh  Saph  answered,  "  I  agree  to  sell,  0  my  lady ; 
do  you  agree  to  buy?"  and  Mrs.  Finn  replied,  "I  buy,  O 
Sheikh."  Then  the  purchase-deed,  which  had  been  already 
prepared,  was  read  over,  signed,  and  sealed ;  and  one  hund- 
red and  fifty  sovereigns  were  counted  slowly  into  the  hands 
of  the  Sheikh.  He  received  the  gold  with  great  gravity 
"  and  seeming  indifference  ;  but  his  men  looked  on  eagerly, 
with  hawk-like  eyes.  After  this,  about  a  hundred  coins, 
of  small  value,  were  thrown  on  the  office-floor,  according 
to  custom,  and  were  eagerly  scrambled  for  by  all  present. 
Thus  the  exact  sum  paid  for  the  ground  could  not  be  as- 
certained. This  method  of  selling  any  thing,  for  a  known 
and  an  unknown  sum,  is  called  "  a  sale  by  the  uncounted 
group."  When  this  precaution  is  neglected  in  dealing  with 
Arab  tribes,  a  purchaser  may  be  obliged  to  yield  up  prop- 
erty to  its  original  owner  at  any  moment,  for  the  amount 
of  the  purchase-money. 

Sheikh   Saph  and  his   two   chief  followers  were  invited 

*  Thifl  is  rather  curious  in  connection  with  2  Sam.  xxi,  18 :  "  Then  Sibbechai  the 
Hushathite  slew  Saph,  which  was  of  the  sons  of  the  giant." 


340  DOMESTIC  LIFE  IN  PALESTINE. 

into  the  drawing-room  to  take  coffee.  They  made  strong 
professions  and  promises  of  faith  and  good- will  toward  their 
"  noble  lady,  Mrs.  Finn,"  saying,  that  they  would  protect 
the  property  at  the  risk  of  their  lives,  and  as  if  it  were 
still  their  own.  They  went  away  evidently  quite  satisfied 
with  the  transaction. 

On  the  15th,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Finn  went  to  Urtas,  to  stay 
there  for  a  few  days,  for  change  of  air,  and  to  superintend 
the  arrangements  for  inclosing  and  cultivating  the  recently- 
purchased  land.  I  was  invited  to  spend  a  day  with  them, 
in  company  with  an  English  traveler,  Mr.  "W.,  and  Skander 
Finn.  We  started  from  the  Consulate  at  sunrise,  and  rode 
quickly  across  the  plain  of  Rephaim  to  Rachel's  Sepulcher, 
and  over  the  hills  by  Bethlehem.  A  well-mounted  kawass 
led  the  way,  and  a  mule  carrying  Debihu,  the  Abyssinian 
servant,  and  a  tent,  followed.  We  reached  the  pleasant 
valley  in  about  two  hours.  It  looked  to  me  more  beautiful 
than  ever,  with  its  rippling  streams,  its  flourishing  fruit- 
trees,  and  rose-bushes  covered  with  flowers. 

We  found  our  friends  waiting  for  us,  seated  at  the  wide 
entrance  of  a  dry  cave,  in  a  white  limestone  rock,  just 
above  the  new  garden-ground.  We  went  together  up  to 
Mr.  Meshullam's  cottage.  His  wife  showed  me  a  large 
sieve  full  of  fine  roses,  which  had  been  gathered  before 
sunrise.  We  breakfasted  in  the  rose-scented  room,  and 
then  rested  for  a  short  time  on  the  cushioned  stone  divan, 
under  a  large  fig-tree,  the  thickly-growiug  leaves  of  which 
now  afforded  perfect  shelter. 

A  ride  was  proposed,  and  we  mounted.  Mr.  Finn  led 
the  way  in  a  south-westerly  direction,  over  a  steep  and 
pathless  hill,  which  looked  as  if  it  had  never  been  traversed 
except  by  wild  goats  and  conies.  When  we  commenced 
descending,  we  found  it  necessary  to  dismount;  and,  one 
after  another,  we  led  our  horses,  slipping  and  sliding,  over 
large  smooth  inclined  slabs  of  rock  and  loose  stones,  till 
we  reached  a  broad  level  platform,  where  rich  earth  had 
rested,  and  formed  a  bed  for  wild  flowers.     Here  we  paused 


GARDEN   ON  THE   IIILL-TOP.  341 

for  those  of  our  party  who  had  prudently  taken  an  easier 
route  round  the  base  of  the  hill.  They  presently  overtook 
us,  and  we  were  reminded  that  Amos,  the  herdsman  and 
prophet,  who  said,  "Shall  horses  run  upon  the  rock?" 
dwelt  not  far  from  here,  and  very  likely  he  had  often  seen 
them  stumbling  or  stepping  cautiously  over  such  hills  as 
this.  We  rode^all  together  up  a  narrow  winding  valley, 
where  wild  thyme  and  heath,  and  blue,  yellow,  red,  and 
white  salvias,  grew  abundantly  among  the  gray  rocks, 
which  were  half-covered  with  orange-colored  lichen.  The 
air  was  warm  and  fragrant. 

At  the  head  of  the  valley  there  was  a  rounded  hill, 
crowned  by  a  low  clump  of  trees,  which  sheltered  a  white 
tent.  The  northern  and  western  slopes  were  green  with 
bearded  barley.  This  lovely  patch  of  cultivated  land  con- 
trasted strangely  with  the  wild  hills  around,  where  there 
was  not  any  sign  of  human  industry.  Mr.  Meshullam  en- 
joyed our  surprise,  and  then  explained  how  he  had  cleared 
the  land  and  sown  it,  and  made  a  little  garden  on  the  top 
of  the  hill.  The  soil  was  very  rich  in  quality,  but  rather 
thinly  spread  over  the  surface  of  the  rock.* 

There  were  higher  hills  rising  beyond,  and  sheltering 
this  retreat.     We  ascended  gradually,  till  we  reached  the 

*  This  ground  has  been  greatly  improved  since,  and  when  I  visited  it  in  1859,  I 
found  that  Peter,  one  of  Mr.  Meshullam's  younger  sons,  a  brave  and  enterprising 
young  man,  had,  on  his  return  from  service  in  the  Crimea,  built  a  little  stono 
house  there,  and  inclosed  a  large  portion  of  cleared  land.  He  often  lived  on  the 
hill  for  weeks  together,  bis  only  companions  being  two  or  three  native  peasants, 
and  his  favorite  dog,  and  a  few  other  domestic  animals.  He  adopted  the  Bedouin 
costume,  and  lived  quite  like  an  Arab,  except  during  his  occasional  visits  to  Jeru- 
salem and  other  towns.  He  has  lived  from  childhood  in  Palestine,  and  his  phys- 
ical strength,  quickness  of  action,  and  foresight  have  endeared  him  to  the  Arabs. 
He  is  known  and  respected  by  most  of  the  Sheikhs  in  the  district.  He  has  more 
than  once  been  requested  to  become  the  chief  of  a  small  tribe.  He  told  me  that 
he  would  have  accepted  the  office  gladly,  if  he  could  have  done  so  without  becom- 
ing a  Mohammedan.  He  was  dreaded  by  the  doers  of  mischief  for  miles  around. 
He  found  the  neighborhood  infested  with  wild  boars,  jackals,  foxes,  and  other 
beasts  of  prey.  He  killed  a  great  number,  and  very  often  succeeded  in  shooting 
hawks  and  eagles. 

When  His  Royal  Highness  Prince  Alfred  was  in  Palestine,  in  the  Spring  of  1859, 
Mr.  Peter  Meshullam  was  one  of  his  most  constant  companions  on  the  inland 
journey  from  Jerasalem  to  Tiberias,  and  thence  to  Haifa,  where  the  Euryalua 
was  at  aDcbor. 


342  DOMESTIC  LIFE  IN   PALESTINE. 

highest  point  in  the  range,  which  commanded  a  wide  pros- 
pect in  every  direction. 

Looking  eastward,  I  at  once  recognized  the  Dead  Sea, 
calm  and  blue,  and  the  long  line  of  the  Moab  Mountains 
beyond ;  but  the  rest  of  the  view  all  around  was  to  me,  as 
well  as  to  Mr.  W.,  only  a  maze  of  white,  gray,  and  brown 
hills,  and  dark  valleys  checkered  with  cloud-shadows,  with- 
out any  roads  or  landmarks. 

Mr.  Finn  read  the  landscape  round  for  us,  and  its  fea- 
tures soon  grew  familiar  to  me.  We  were  looking  eastward, 
and  he  said,  "That  dark  ravine  to  the  right,  in  the  range 
of  rocks  on  this  side  of  the  Dead  Sea,  is  the  Valley  of  the 
Wilderness  of  Engeddi,  where  David  'dwelled  in  strong- 
holds' during  his  exile.  That  peak,  like  an  extinct  volcano, 
which  rises  above  the  surrounding  hills,  is  the  Frank 
Mountain,  called  by  the  Arabs,  '  Jehel  Furidus,^  that  is,  the 
Lesser  Paradise  Mount.  A  little  way  to  the  right  of  it,  on 
that  terraced  and  rounded  hill,  are  the  ruins  of  Tekoa, 
where  Amos  guarded  flocks  and  herds,  and  gathered  wild 
figs,  in  the  days  of  Uzziah,  King  of  Judah,  two  years  be- 
fore the  earthquake.  We  will  go  there  some  day,  and  look 
for  a  wise  woman."  Turning  toward  the  north-east,  he 
said,  "Do  you  notice  a  depression  in  that  long  range?  Look 
a  little  to  the  left  of  it,  and  you  will  distinguish  the  leaden 
roof  of  the  Convent  of  Bethlehem,  and  then  you  can  make 
out  the  surrounding  buildings.  Farther  north  is  Mount 
Olivet;  and,  now  that  a  black  cloud  is  passing  over  Jeru- 
salem, you  can  plainly  see  two  tall  minarets  rising  white 
and  bright  out  of  the  city." 

Many  of  the  hills,  especially  in  the  south  and  east,  were 
crowned  with  ruins,  and  showed  signs  of  former  cultivation, 
but  now  they  were  deserted.  The  stone  walls  of  the  an- 
cient terraces  were  broken  down,  and  the  earth  washed 
away,  and,  where  vines  and  fig-trees  once  grew,  thorns  and 
thistles  had  sprung  up — the  whole  land  truly  is  made  silent 
and  desolate.  We  were  overlooking  a  large  portion  of  the 
division  of  the  tribe  of  Judah.     See  Jer.  vii,  34 — "I  will 


ARAB  ENCAMPMENT.  343 

cause  to  cease  from  the  cities  of  Judah  the  voice  of  mirth, 
and  the  voice  of  gladness,  the  voice  of  the  bridegroom,  and 
the  voice  of  the  bride:  for  the  land  shall  be  desolate."  A 
string  of  camels  and  a  few  horsemen  were  hastening  across 
the  country,  and  now  and  then  we  caught  sight  of  them. 
Here  and  there  a  few  black  tents  were  pitched  and  flocks 
were  feeding,  but  there  was  nothing  else  to  give  life  to  the 
landscape. 

The  wind,  which  had  been  gradually  rising,  now  blew  so 
violently  that  we  could  scarcely  stand  against  it.  The 
cloud  which  had  overshadowed  Jerusalem  was  whirled  far 
away,  and  unless  we  had  known  exactly  where  to  look,  and 
what  to  look  for,  we  could  not  possibly  have  distinguished 
the  hill  on  which  the  city  stands  from  the  rocky  hills  which 
encircle  it.  We  were  reminded  of  the  words  of  Carlyle: 
"The  eye  only  sees  that  which  it  brings  with  it  the  power 
of  seeing."  We  rode  down  into  the  valley  for  shelter,  but 
we  were  presently  tempted  to  ascend  the  opposite  hill,  for 
we  saw  some  square  black  tents  among  the  low  trees  and 
bushes.  We  rode  up  to  the  encampment  and  dismounted, 
and  were  soon  surrounded  by  a  group  of  dusky  Arabs. 
They  had  cultivated  a  little  patch  of  ground  with  barley 
and  beans,  and  a  few  wild  olive-trees  grew  at  the  base  of 
the  hill.  Their  half-naked  little  children  were  playing  with 
the  goats,  jumping  from  rock  to  rock  and  rolling  on  the 
ground;  the  elder  ones  were  gathering  wood  for  the  fire. 
The  women  were  attending  to  a  caldron  of  rice,  which  was 
suspended  gipsy-fashion  over  a  wood-fire  in  the  open  air. 
They  clustered  round  Mrs.  Finn  and  me,  examining  us  with 
curiosity,  especially  wondering  at  our  gloves  and  boots. 
They  all  looked  rather  languid  and  fatigued — the  effect 
probably  of  the  daily  fasting,  for  they  were  very  rigid 
Moslems  of  Bethlehem  origin.  We  asked  them  how  long 
they  intended  to  remain  there?  They  replied,  "We  shall 
remain  here  till  Ramadan  is  past."* 

From  the  top  of  the  hill  the  flash  of  the  "mogarib,"  or 

*  See  note,  page  60. 


344  DOMESTIC  LIFE   IN   PALESTINE. 

sunset  gun  from  the  citadel  at  Jerusalem,  could  be/  seen, 
and,  partly  on  that  account,  they  had  chosen  the  spot  for 
their  encampment.  Besides  this  attraction,  there  was  water 
near,  and  pasture  for  their  flocks,  and  dwarf  oak-trees,  and 
resinous  shrubs  and  thorns,  which  they  cut  down  for  fuel. 
The  gum-cistus  flourished  there,  and  was  covered  with  wide- 
open,  delicate  blossoms,  white,  pink,  and  lilac,  which  fell 
ofi"  when  the  flowers  were  gathered,  and  fluttered  away  in 
the  breeze  like  butterflies. 

We  remounted  and  went  by  another  route  toward  Urtas, 
making  our  way  along  narrow  wadys,  and  crossing  ridges, 
where  tall  hollyhocks  and  the  hibiscus  abounded.  Pres- 
ently we  came  to  a  hill  on  which  there  were  extensive 
and  interesting  ruins.  We  dismounted  and  scrambled  up 
among  rocks,  hewed  stones,  and  thistles,  and  thorn-bushes, 
which  grew  on  the  ancient  terraces.  When  we  reached 
the  plateau  on  the  top  of  the  hill,  Mr.  Finn,  who  had 
previously  explored  the  place,  pointed  out  to  us  the  foun- 
dation  of  a  very  large  building,  divided  into  compartments. 
The  walls  had  been  broken  down,  but  in  some  parts  they 
stood  four  feet  high.  They  were  built  of  very  large,  well- 
beveled  blocks  of  stone,  not  joined  together  with  mortar, 
but  the  interstices  were  filled  up  with  finely-crushed  stones. 
The  ground  was  strewed  with  tesserae  about  three-quarters 
of  an  inch  square,  with  which  all  the  inclosed  spaces  had 
evidently  been  paved. 

From  the  style  of  the  masonry  and  the  general  outline, 
Mr.  Finn  judged  that  this  was^a  good  example  of  Jewish 
workmanship  of  an  early  period,  and  as  ancient  as  any 
existing  in  the  country.  The  buildings  must  have  covered 
a  large  space,  and  were  apparently  all  connected  with  the 
central  and  principal  one.  The  Arabs  call  this  ruin  the 
"jDar  el  Bendf^ — that  is,  the  house  or  "retreat  of  girls;" 
but  they  have  no  tale  to  tell  about  it.  There  is  no  his- 
torical notice  or  tradition  of  any  Christian  convent  having 
existed  here  at  any  time ;  and  there  is  not  the  slightest 
indication  of  Christian  art  in  the  general  ground-plan. 


Solomon's  harem.  345 

The  great  beveled  stones  wliicli  are  scattered  all  over 
the  hill,  and  rest  in  heaps  in  the  valley  below,  as  if 
thrown  down  by  an  earthquake,  are  exactly  like  the  stones 
of  which  Solomon's  Pools  and  other  ancient  works  are 
formed.  Mr.  Finn  suggested  that  this  was  possibly  one 
of  the  places  of  which  Solomon  spoke  when  he  said, 
"I  made  me  great  works;  I  builded  me  houses."  And 
the  singular  traditionary  name,  "  Dar  el  Benat,"  which 
has  clung  to  it,  may  signify  that  this  was  an  establish- 
ment connected  with  Solomon's  harem,  which,  it  is  said, 
contained  "  seven  hundred  wives  and  three  hundred  con- 
cubines." 

I  can  imagine  the  time  when  the  now  fallen  walls  were 
standing,  and  inclosing  cool  chambers,  columned  corridors, 
terraces,  courts,  fountains,  and  gardens  of  citrons  and  roses; 
when  the  hill-sides  were  covered  with  vines,  and  the  valley 
below  was  well  watered,  and  brought  forth  all  kinds  of 
goodly  fruits  and  fragrant  spices.  Gathered  together  there, 
I  see  in  fancy  "virgins  without  number;"  agile  and  grace- 
ful mountaineers  from  the  Lebanon ;  proud  and  stately 
daughters  of  Jerusalem ;  sweet,  shy  girls  from  the  plains 
of  Sharon;  and  the  fairest  of  the  fair  maidens  of  Shunem; 
contrasting  with  the  dark  loveliness  of  the  melancholy 
young  African  exiles,  who  wore  "  the  shadowed  livery 
of  the  burnished  sun,"  and  gloried  in  the  tints  he  made 
them  wear.* 

Guarded  by  "valiant  men  of  Israel,"  and  surrounded  by 
handmaidens  and  slaves,  they  were  nursed  here  in  luxury 
and  splendor — decked  with  ornaments  of  gold,  and  silver, 
and  precious  stones — clothed  with  raiments  of  fine  linen, 
and  silk,  and  embroidered  work — anointed  with  oil,  and 
perfumed  with  sweet  odors.  Every  art  was  employed  that 
could  add  a  new  charm  to  beauty.  I  can  hear  their  songs 
of  rejoicing  when  the  Winter  rains  passed  away  and  the 
flowers   appeared   on  the   earth.     I  can  see  them  early  in 

*  "I  am  black  but  comely,  0  ye  daughters  of  Jerusalem!" 

SoNQ  OF  Solomon  i,  6. 


346  DOMESTIC  LIFE  IN  PALESTINE. 

the  morning  in  the  vineyards,  or  on  the  stairs  cut  in  the 
rock  on  the  hill-side,  going  down  into  the  garden  of  nuts, 
to  see  the  fruits  of  the  valley — to  see  whether  the  vine 
flourished  and  the  pomegranate  budded;  and  to  this  day, 
at  every  marriage  festival  in  the  country,  their  wild, 
picturesque,  and  passionate  love-songs  are  echoed  in  a 
language  very  nearly  allied  to  their  own.  On  this  subject 
I  hope,  on  some  future  occasion,  to  speak  more  fully,  in 
some  notes  on  the  Life  and  Times  of  Solomon,  and  his 
Song  of  Songs. 

We  lingered  a  long  time  among  the  ruins.  I  picked  up 
a  handful  of  tesserae,  and  then  went  down  to  the  valley. 
We  found  traces  here  and  there  of  a  rocky  staircase,  the 
joint  work  of  nature  and  art.  At  the  base  of  the  hill  wild 
pomegranates  and  the  arbutus  grew.  Just  as  we  were 
mounting  I  saw  on  the  top  of  a  seemingly-inaccessible 
heap  of  rocks  and  hewed  stones  a  very  fine  honeysuckle. 
Mr.  W.  determined  to  gather  it  for  us.  He  leaped  across 
the  deep  dry  bed  of  the  Winter  torrent,  and  climbed  over 
the  bushes  and  rocks,  and  soon  returned  in  triumph  with 
such  a  large,  bright  trophy  of  pink  hollyhocks,  at  least 
five  feet  high,  and  long,  trailing  branches  of  the  honey- 
suckle, that  it  frightened  all  the  horses  as  he  approached. 
We  rode  on,  laden  with  flowers.  The  honeysuckle  smelled 
very  sweet;  its  blossoms  were  large,  and  of  a  pale-yellow 
color,  shaded  with  white  and  pink. 

We  made  our  way  quickly  to  Urtas,  and  after  dinner 
we  sat  for  a  short  time  under  the  fig-tree.  The  peasants 
came  down  from  the  ancient  village  above  to  look  at  us, 
and  we  took  the  opportunity  of  putting  some  of  them 
into  our  sketch-books.  Then  we  mounted,  and  had  a 
delightful  ride  back  to  Jerusalem.  It  was  long  past  sun- 
set when  we  reached  the  gates,  but  the  keeper  of  the  key 
had  been  detained  to  admit  us. 

Thus  the  Spring-time  passed  pleasantly.  Day  after  day 
my  attention  and  my  interest  had  been  excited  by  scenes 
and  incidents  which  vividly  illustrated  the  treasured  records 


LIFE   AND   SOCIETY.  347 

of  the  past,  and  threw  new  light  for  me  on  Hebrew 
chronicle  and  Gospel  story.  I  had  seen  and  entered  into 
the  spirit  of  human  life  in  all  its  progressive  stages.  I 
had  found  shelter  in  the  tents  of  lawless  wanderers,  and 
claimed  sisterhood  with  Bedouin  girls.  I  had  lingered 
among  more  peaceful  tribes,  who  dwell  in  patriarchal 
simplicity  in  stationary  tents,  surrounded  by  flocks  and 
herds.  I  had  lodged  with  the  fellahin,  in  their  rude 
villages  of  mud  and  stone,  encircled  by  orchards,  gardens, 
fields  of  grain,  and  pasture-land,  and  had  associated  with 
the  townspeople,  the  great  men,  the  law-makers,  and  the 
governors  of  the  land.  In  the  mean  time  I  had  occa- 
sionally enjoyed  the  society  of  some  of  the  most  highly- 
cultivated  and  noble  representatives  of  the  civilized  nations 
of  Europe.  I  could  find  some  meeting-point  of  sympathy 
with  all,  and  I  truly  felt  that  "one  touch  of  nature  makes 
the  whole  world  kin." 

My  desire  to  make  my  friends  in  England  share  my 
pleasures,  and  to  enable  them  to  see,  as  far  as  possible, 
a  true  reflex  of  all  that  I  saw,  led  me  to  look  carefully 
and  earnestly  on  all  things.  I  seemed  to  possess  unusual 
strength  and  power  of  resisting  fatigue,  and  acquired  habits 
of  ceaseless  and  minute  observation.  My  pen  and  pencil 
were  almost  always  in  use.  Friendly  voices  often  said, 
"  You  are  working  too  hard ;  you  do  not  take  sufficient 
rest;"  or,  "Unless  you  work  with  less  intensity  you  will 
suffer  sooner  or  later.  In  this  country,  at  this  season,  it 
is  absolutely  necessary  to  have  a  little  sleep  or  perfect 
repose  at  midday." 

I  did  not  take  warning,  and  at  last  sleepless  nights 
came,  and  were  followed  by  weary  days  and  loss  of 
appetite,  and  my  almost  unnaturally-excited  and  overtaxed 
strength  suddenly  gave  way.  I  remember  one  hot  night, 
after  in  vain  trying  to  sleep,  I  rose  and  sat  in  one  of 
the  eastern  windows  of  the  Consulate  on  Mount  Zion,  and 
watched  for  the  rising  of  the  sun  over  the  Mount  of 
Olives.     I  waited  for  a  long   time   before   there  was   any 


848  DOMESTIC   LIFE   IN   PALESTINE. 

change  in  the  cool  gray  sky  or  any  colors  on  the  dusky 
earth.  Every  thing  was  as  still  as  death.  Presently 
there  was  a  pale,  golden  tinge  in  the  east,  and  the  dark 
mountains  of  Moab  grew  dim  and  shadowy  in  misty  light; 
the  brightness  rose  up  into  the  heavens,  which  suddenly 
became  orange,  blue,  and  rose-colored.  The  tall  date  palm- 
trees,  so  black  and  so  motionless  a  moment  before,  now 
stirred  their  green  fronds  gently,  and  the  delicate  yellow- 
grasses  on  the  house-tops  and  on  the  terraces  quivered  and 
shook  as  if  just  awakened  out  of  sleep,  and  birds  fluttered 
from  their  nests  chirping  and  twittering  in  chorus;  but  it 
was  some  time  before  the  sun  appeared  above  Mount  Olivet. 
That  was  on  the  26th  of  May.  Afterward  I  became  weaker 
and  weaker,  taking  no  note  of  time;  sometimes  riding  out 
very  gently  into  an  olive-grove  to  rest  under  the  trees, 
while  I  idly  watched  the  children  at  their  play,  or  the 
flickering  shadows  of  wide-winged  birds,  or  the  busy  insects 
creeping  in  and  out  among  the  stones  and  the  wild  flowers. 
But  there  w^e  days  when  I  could  not  rise  from  my  bed, 
and  sometimes  I  thought  that  I  should  die  there.  For 
two  or  three  days  I  was  quite  deaf  through  extreme  weak- 
ness. The  late  Dr.  Macgowan  was  unremitting  in  his 
attention,  and  I  never  shall  forget  the  kindness  of  my 
nurses,  of  whom  Mrs.  Finn  was  the  chief 

On  the  18th  of  June  Um  Issa,  one  of  the  servants, 
came  to  my  bedside,  and  said  gently,  in  Arabic,  "  Be 
glad  and  rejoice,  for  now  you  will  be  well  quickly.  The 
Consul  has  come,  God  be  praised !"  From  that  time  I 
began  to  recover,  and  the  next  day  I  rode  up  with  my 
brother  to  Mr.  Graham's  little  tower  on  Mount  Olivet, 
and  took  up  my  abode  there  for  a  few  weeks.  It  is  a 
genuine  Arab  structure.  On  the  ground-floor  are  stables 
and  a  kitchen ;  and  a  vaulted  chamber  above,  with  a  broad 
window  in  a  deep  recess,  serves  as  the  sitting-room.  A 
few  stone  steps  lead  to  the  flat  roof,  which  forms  a  pleasant 
terrace,  and  is  protected  by  a  low  wall,  as  are  most  of 
these   flat   roofs,  and    as   they  must   have   been  anciently, 


MY  HOME   ON  MOUNT   OLIVET.  349 

in  obedience  to  the  law :  "  When  thou  buildest  a  new 
house,  then  thou  shalt  make  a  battlement  for  thy  roof, 
that  thou  bring  not  blood  upon  thine  house,  if  any  man 
fall  from  thence."  Deut.  xxii,  8.  From  this  terrace  we 
had  almost  a  bird's-eye  view  of  Jerusalem.  Looking  down 
the  slope  of  Olivet,  sprinkled  with  trees  and  rugged  with 
rocks,  we  saw  the  deep  Valley  of  Jehoshaphat,  which 
separated  us  from  the  city. 

Mr.  Graham  and  my  brother  went  into  the  city  every 
morning,  and  I  used  to  sit  in  the  window-seat  sweeping  the 
landscape  with  an  excellent  telescope,  watching  the  wor- 
shipers in  the  mosque  area,  or  gazing  on  the  hills  round 
about  Jerusalem,  till  every  one  became  as  familiar  to  me  as 
the  face  of  a  friend. 

The  olives  and  fig-trees  around  were  flourishing,  the 
pomegranates  were  in  full  leaf  and  blossom,  and  the  fruit 
was  beginning  to  form.  The  patches  of  wheat  and  barley 
on  the  terraces  had  been  reaped,  and  thorns  and  thistles 
were  springing  up  in  the  stubble-fields.  My  friends  from 
the  Consulate  used  to  come  sometimes  to  spend  the  midday 
hours  with  me,  and  my  brother  generally  arrived  in  time  for 
an  evening  stroll.  This  quiet  life  brought  back  my  strength, 
and  I  could  again  use  my  pen  and  pencil  with  delight  and 
with  an  untrembling  hand;  and,  by  taking  regular  hours  of 
rest,  I  found  that  I  could  work  and  enjoy  all  pleasant  sights 
and  sounds  without  suficring  any  ill  efiiects. 

On  Saturday  I  noticed  that  large  companies  of  women 
gathered  together  on  the  slope  of  the  opposite  hill,  below 
the  St.  Stephen's  Gate.  They  sat  in  little  groups  under  the 
olive-trees.  They  were  all  shrouded  in  white  sheets,  but 
many  of  them  took  ofi"  their  mundils,  or  muslin  face-vails, 
thinking  themselves  quite  out  of  sight  of  strangers — but  I 
could  distinguish  their  features  through  the  telescope. 

Ropes  were  fastened  to  the  tree-branches,  and  the  chil 
dren  began  to  swing  with  great  glee.     The  women  followed 
the  example,  and  seemed  thoroughly  to  enjoy  the  monoto- 
nous   movement.      By   midday    there    were    more    than   a 


360    '  DOMESTIC  LIFE  IN  PALESTINE. 

hundred  women  assembled,  besides  groups  of  children,  so 
restless  that  I  could  not  count  them,  attended  by  unvailed 
Abyssinian  servants. 

Several  black  men  came  out  of  the  St.  Stephen's  Gate, 
carrying  provisions;  they  handed  them  to  the  female  serv- 
ants, and  then  went  away  directly.  Soon  a  number  of  cir- 
cular trays  were  placed  in  the  shade  and  covered  with  sim- 
ple food  and  sweetmeats.  Water  was  poured  from  jars  over 
the  hands  of  the  women,  and  then  they  sat  on  the  ground 
round  the  well-filled  dishes.  They  were  not  nearly  so  silent 
over  their  meal  as  men  are.  They  lingered  over  it,  and  I 
could  see  that  they  were  laughing  and  talking  merrily. 
Then  they  washed  their  hands  again,  and  took  coffee  and 
smoked  narghiles  while  the  servants  had  their  dinner;  and 
they  all  remained  there,  some  sleeping  and  others  chatting, 
under  the  trees,  till  an  hour  before  sunset,  when  they  vailed 
themselves  closely  and  went  into  the  city.  It  is  a  very 
common  practice  in  the  Summer-time  to  keep  holiday 
thus. 

On  Friday,  the  4th  of  July,  the  wind  rose  suddenly  at 
midday,  and  was  so  violent  that  I  was  obliged  to  have  all 
the  casements  closed,  and  even  then  the  curtains  were 
blown  about  and  papers  fluttered  through  the  rooms,  yet 
the  heat  was  intense. 

On  Saturday,  the  5th,  I  went  with  my  brother,  early  in 
the  afternoon,  to  the  little  village  on  the  top  of  the  central 
point  of  Olivet.  We  called  at  the  house  adjoining  the 
mosque.  We  entered  a  court  and  mounted  a  steep  stone 
stairway,  and  reached  a  broad  terrace,  with  high,  raised, 
stone  divans  on  each  side  of  the  arched  entrance  to  a  large 
but  low  room.  Carpets  and  cushions  were  quickly  brought 
out  and  spread  on  the  raised  seats,  and  a  handsome  Moslem, 
the  son  of  an  effendi  of  some  note  in  Jerusalem,  who  was 
staying  up  there  for  change  of  air,  invited  us  to  make  our- 
selves at  home. 

In  a  few  minutes,  the  master  of  the  house,  a  fine,  gray- 
bearded,  turbaned  sheikh,  joined  us.     After  we  had  taken 


ARAB   SHEIKH.  351 

sherbet,  coffee,  and  a  narghile,  he  opened  the  door  at  the 
base  of  the  minaret,  and  we  groped  our  way  up  the  wind- 
ing stairs  to  the  top,  and  then  stood  in  the  balcony,  silent 
with  delight  at  the  wonderful  prospect  which  presented 
itself.  Looking  eastward  over  the  wilderness  of  bossy  hills, 
we  saw  a  large  expanse  of  the  Dead  Sea,  with  the  Moab 
Mountains  beyond,  stretching  far  away  north  and  south. 
The  sun  shone  magnificently,  shedding  a  halo  of  glory  on 
every  object.  In  the  foreground  of  the  view  a  wely^  or 
dome,  stood  on  a  rounded  hill,  which  was  covered  with  olive 
and  fig  trees.  This  is  called  the  Dome  of  the  Witnesses. 
Beyond  this,  there  was  no  sign  of  life — all  was  desolate. 
But,  looking  westward,  we  could  see  Jerusalem  stretched 
out  like  a  map  beneath  us,  and  there  were  evidences  of 
human  skill  and  industry  on  almost  all  the  hills. 

While  we  were  there,  the  Cancelliere  of  the  French  Con- 
sulate and  M.  Gilbert  joined  us.  The  latter  said  that 
Kamil  Pasha  had  been  to  the  castle  to  call  on  us,  and, 
hearing  where  we  were,  had  followed  us.  So  we  went  down 
on  to  the  terrace  to  meet  him. 

Our  host  asked  me,  in  a  low  voice,  if  I  would  visit  his 
harem,  as  his  wives  had  expressed  a  wish  to  see  me. 
With  my  brother's  permission,  I  went.  The  old  man  led 
me  through  a  court,  and  up  on  to  a  terraced  roof,  where 
an  elderly  woman,  the  wife  of  his  youth,  awaited  me.  He 
went  away,  and  she  said,  "Welcome,  0  my  daughter;  we 
have  heard  of  you,  and  have  been  longing  to  see  you  and 
speak  with  you."  She  took  me  into  a  little  garden  on  the 
house-top,  and  two  handsome  women,  with  features  of 
Egyptian  character,  came  forward  to  greet  me.  They  won- 
dered that  I  ventured  to  remain  in  the  lonely  castle  on  the 
hill,  and  said,  "  We  dare  not  live  there.  God  has  given 
courage  to  English  girls."  I  then  inquired  how  many 
English  girls  they  had  known.  "  We  know  you,  and  we 
have  known  one  other  only.  She  was  a  girl  who  lived 
in  the  castle  for  a  long  time  with  her  father."  I  found 
that  they  referred  to   the   daughter  of  Mr.   Barclay,  the 


352  DOMESTIC  LIFE  IN  PALESTINE. 

author  of  the  ''  City  of  the  Great  King."  They  asked 
after  her  with  warm-hearted  kindness. 

Suddenly,  while  we  were  speaking,  the  two  younger 
wives  started  up,  and  went  to  the  other  side  of  the  garden, 
crouched  down  in  the  shadow  of  the  wall,  and  made  their 
way  cautiously  down  to  their  rooms.  I  said,  "What  has 
disturbed  you?"  The  old  wife,  who  did  not  move,  directed 
my  attention  to  a  window,  or  rather  a  small  square  open- 
ing, in  a  house  not  far  off.  A  man  was  looking  from  it, 
evidently  surprised  to  see  a  stranger  there,  for  he  lifted  up 
some  children  to  look  at  me.  The  old  woman  said,  "  Never 
mind,  let  us  gather  some  flowers  before  we  go  down." 
There  were  dahlias,  hollyhocks,  balsams,  scavias,  African 
marigolds,  everlastings,  roses,  sweet  basil,  and  myrtles  in 
full  blossom.  I  made  a  bouquet  of  the  three  last,  and  the 
woman  said,  "  Why  have  you  passed  all  the  other  flowers 
to  take  these?"  I  said,  "These  are  the  flowers  I  love  the 
best  for  their  scent  and  for  their  beauty."  She  said,  "  Even 
as  you  love  one  flower  better  than  another,  so  God  loves 
one  creature  more  than  another.  You  are  one  of  the  favor- 
ites of  God,  and  he  protects  you  in  all  dangers." 

She  wore  by  her  side  a  flat  gold  box,  about  four  inches 
wide  and  six  inches  long,  suspended  by  a  double  chain..  It 
w'as  engraved  with  sentences  from  the  Koran,  and  she  said 
that  it  contained  a  charm  against  the  power  of  an  evil  eye, 
and  against  sorcery.  I  told  her  I  never  wore  charms.  She 
replied,  "  You  do  not  require  any — no  one  can  hurt  you." 

We  wewt  down  into  the  women's  room.  The  two  young 
wives  were  waiting  for  us  at  the  wide-open  door,  and  had 
prepared  coffee  and  sweetmeats  for  me.  The  room  was 
large  and  low,  without  any  windows ;  there  were  small 
holes  near  the  ceiling. 

I  saw  several  young  children.  They  seemed  very  much 
neglected,  and  the  flies  were  allowed  to  tease  them  terribly, 
clustering  on  the  edges  of  their  unwashed  eyelids,  and 
buzzing  about  their  sugar-crusted  lips. 

The  sun  was  going  down,  and  the  muezzin  cried  out  from 


MOSLEM  FUNERAL.  353 

the  minaret  close  by,  so  I  rejoined  my  brother;  and  we  re- 
tired, to  allow  our  Moslem  friends  to  enjoy  their  evening 
meal.  I  went  several  times  afterward,  to  sketch  from  the 
minaret,  and  to  see  the  women. 

On  Sunday  morning,  July  6th,  I  sat  alone  in  the  window- 
seat  of  my  home,  on  Mount  Olivet,  and  watched  the  funeral 
of  a  Moslem  woman.  The  procession  issued  from  the  St. 
Stephen's  Gate.  Some  soldiers  and  other  men  carried  the 
open  bier.  The  body,  covered  with  a  sheet,  was  lying  down 
flat,  but  the  head  was  very  much  raised,  and  the  face  con- 
cealed by  a  mundil.  The  open  grave  was  close  by  the 
wayside.  A  number  of  men  were  grouped  around  it,  and 
some  women  were  watching  from  the  slope  above,  wailing 
wildly,  swaying  their  bodies  to  and  fro,  and  throwing  up 
their  arms,  as  if  pleading  passionately.  The  clumsy  bier 
was  propped  against  a  rock,  and  the  dead  body  fell  into  an 
awkward  sitting  posture.  Two  men  went  down  into  the 
grave,  and  quite  disappeared.  The  corpse  was  then  re- 
moved fVom  the  bier,  the  sheet  was  taken  off,  and  disclosed 
a  figure  just  like  an  Egyptian  mummy.  It  was  handed, 
not  very  gently  or  reverently,  to  the  men  below,  and  then 
eight  men  held  the  sheet  over  the  opening.  After  a  minute 
or  two  the  sheet  was  withdrawn,  the  men  who  had  been 
covering  up  the  body  appeared  above  ground,  and  the  grave 
was  quickly  closed.  The  crowd  dispersed,  and  in  a  short 
time  all  was  quiet  again. 

It  was  a  very  hot  day,  and  I  was  quite  alone,  for  I  had 
been  persuaded  not  to  venture  into  the  town  to  church.  At 
about  three  o'clock,  I  saw  a  large  body  of  irregular  Turkish 
troops  issuing  from  the  St.  Stephen's  Gate.  They  rode  in 
single  file  down  into  the  valley,  and  then  rose  up  the  sides 
of  Olivet,  along  the  path  toward  the  village  above.  They 
all  carried  guns,  and  most  of  them  had  long  spears.  They 
were  dressed  with  no  attention  to  uniformity,  but  nearly 
every  one  wore  a  red  and  yellow  silk  hefia,  or  fringed 
shawl  head-dress.  I  counted  fifty-two  in  the  first  detach- 
ment, but  others  followed   in  small  parties,  took  the  road 

30 
V 


354  DOMESTIC  LIFE  IN  PALESTINE. 

along  the  valley,  and  disappeared  behind  the  Garden  of 
Gethsemane. 

A  little  before  sunset  my  brother  returned,  and,  in  answer 
to  my  questions  about  the  soldiers,  said,  "  They  were  on 
their  way  to  Abu  Dis,  a  village  on  the  other  side  of  the 
hill,  which  is  now  in  arms  against  El  Tur,  the  village  just 
above  us.  Several  skirmishes  have  taken  place  during  the 
last  three  days,  and  a  few  people  have  been  killed  on  both 
sides.  The  Pasha  is  now  determined  to  put  a  stop  to  the 
fighting.  His  Excellency  has  just  now  told  me  that  he  in- 
tends to  encamp  up  here,  and  will  have  his  tents  pitched 
near  to  this  tower."  He  did  so,  and  shortly  afterward  his 
pretty  green  tents  were  to  be  seen  under  the  olive-trees. 

On  Tuesday,  July  8th,  Mr.  Graham  and  my  brother  re- 
turned from  the  town  early  and  said,  "Now  put  on  some- 
thing that  clay  will  not  spoil  and  rocks  will  not  tear,  and 
we  will  take  you  to  explore  the  Tombs  of  the  Prophets." 

Having  equipped  myself  accordingly,  and  provided  wax 
candles,  we  rode  up  to  the  top  of  the  hill  through  the  little 
dusty  village  of  El  Tur.  We  traversed  the  large  cucumber 
gardens  beyond  it,  and  entered  a  fine  mulberry  orchard.  A 
troop  of  naif-naked  little  brown  boys  were  up  in  the  trees, 
gathering  the  ripe  and  abundant  fruit  and  shouting  merrily  j 
while  a  few  women,  in  purple  linen  dresses  and  white  cotton 
vails,  stood  beneath  with  large  trays  and  baskets  made  of 
reeds,  which  they  were  rapidly  filling.  We  alighted  under 
the  trees.  One  woman,  who  seemed  to  have  authority  over 
all  the  rest,  advanced  to  me  and  gave  me  some  of  the  fruit. 
I  had  never  tasted  finer  mulberries.  Then,  to  my  surprise, 
I  was  led  to  the  mouth  of  a  circular  well,  quite  dry,  and 
nearly  filled  up  with  dust  and  rubbish.  We  got  down  into 
this  and  crept  through  a  hole  in  the  side,  and  crawled 
along  a  winding  and  descending  way  on  our  hands  and  feet 
till  we  found  ourselves  in  a  circular  chamber  in  which  we 
could  stand  upright.  It  was  about  twenty-four  feet  in  di- 
ameter, and  in  the  middle  about  ten  feet  high.  A  little 
light  came   into  it  from  a  hole  pierced  through  the  solid 


CAVERNS.  355 

rock  above.  Here  we  lighted  our  candles,  and  Mr.  Graham 
drew  my  attention  to  three  holes  leading  in  different  directions. 
He  entered  the'  central  one,  moving  backward  and  pushing 
his  way  along  on  the  ground.  I  crawled  in  head-foremost 
and  much  more  easily.  We  were  gradually  descending, 
and  presently  came  to  a  corridor  which  hranched  off  in  a 
curve  on  each  side,  forming  part  of  a  circle  of  which  the 
chamber  we  had  left  seemed  to  be  the  center.  This  corri- 
dor was  about  ten  feet  high  and  six  feet  broad;  it  was 
vaulted  and  cemented,  and  the  floor,  of  rock,  was  made 
level.  There  were  a  great  number  of  chambers  and  niches 
in  the  walls,  but  there  were  no  remains  of  coffins  of  any 
kind.  From  this  gallery,  which  was  only  a  quadrant,  other 
passages  branched  off.  We  entered  one  which  led  us  to  a 
gallery  of  the  same  kind,  but  larger,  and  forming  part  of  a 
more  extended  circle.  Mr.  Graham  advised  us  not  to  ven- 
ture into  the  passages  which  he  had  not  previously  explored, 
for  they  are  rather  puzzling,  and  the  place  is  quite  a  maze 
to  an  unguided  stranger.  The  outer  quadrant  is  said  to  be 
115  feet  in  length,  and  sixty  feet  distant  from  the  circular 
chamber  which  is  its  center.  The  passages  which  lead  to 
and  unite  the  two  quadrants  are  roughly  hewn  in  the  rock. 
Some  of  the  narrowest  ones  look  like  natural  fissures.  The 
ground  on  which  we  walked  or  crawled  was  close,  firm,  and 
dry,  and  neither  dusty  nor  sandy. 

The  atmosphere  was  chilly  and  yet  oppressive.  We  made 
our  way  back  to  the  mouth  of  the  well,  and  were  glad  to 
see  the  sunshine  through  the  green  leaves  of  the  mulberry- 
trees,  and  to  breathe  the  fragrant  air  again.* 

The  range  of  Olivet  is  divided  by  slight  depressions  into 
three  parts.  On  the  northern  hill  the  little  tower  which  we 
occupied  is  the  most  conspicuous  object.  The  central  and 
highest  elevation  is  crowned  by  the  village  El  Ttir.  On  the 
southern  hill  there  are  no  buildings,  but  the  olive-trees  are 
more  numerous  than  on  any  other  part  of  the  range.     We 

*  I  went  on  another  occasion  down  into  this  strange  place,  and  found  tho  walla 
quite  wet,  and  the  ground  like  damp  clay. 


356  DOMESTIC   LIFE   IN   PALESTINE. 

mounted  and  rode  southward,  pausing  under  the  trees  on 
the  brow  of  the  hill.  Looking  toward  Jerusalem  we  saw  a 
large  party  of  Bashi-Bazuks  galloping  up  the  hill  and  en- 
tering the  city  gates.  The  sun  was  going  down.  In  a  few 
minutes  afterward  we  heard  shouts  and  songs  of  triumph, 
and  a  troop  of  armed  villagers  made  their  appearance. 
There  were  about  one  hundred,  and  they  marched  in  irreg- 
ular order  along  the  winding,  rocky  path  just  below  us, 
close  to  Siloam.  My  brother  said,  "  That  is  the  little  army 
which  was  sent  forth  by  Siloam  to  take  part  in  the  fight 
up  here." 

As  we  returned  to  El  Tilr,  we  were  overtaken  by  a 
bright-looking  peasant  boy,  singing  lustily.  He  was  riding 
on  a  little  black  donkey,  which  came  leaping  and  dancing 
along  as  if  he  were  as  merry  as  his  rider.  The  boy  stopped 
his  song  and  the  donkey  immediately  stood  still,  as  if  it 
were  an  understood  arrangement.  We  found  they  were 
pausing  by  the  side  of  a  well,  and  I  also  waited  there  to 
let  my  horse  drink  from  the  stone  trough  close  by.  An  old 
man  had  just  filled  it  from  a  goatskin.  The  boy  told  us 
that  there  had  been  a  hard  fight  over  the  hill  that  day, 
and  added,  "Five  souls  were  killed."  However,  it  turned 
out  that  two  of  these  souls  were  horses.  We  stopped  in 
the  village  to  speak  to  the  old  sheikh  of  the  mosque.  He 
said,  "Good-night,  and  God's  blessing  be  upon  you,  0  my 
daughter!"  I  answered,  "A  hundred  good-nights  to  you, 
0  my  father!"  The  moon  was  shining  brightly  when  we 
reached  the  tower. 

On  the  18th  of  July  I  went  into  town  to  stay  at  the 
late  Rev.  J.  Nicolayson's  for  a  few  days,  that  I  might  take 
leave  of  all  my  friends  in  Jerusalem  and  make  preparations 
for  starting  for  Haifa.  When  all  was  in  readiness,  my  tent 
was  pitched  at  the  Talibiyeh,  where  Mr.  Finn  had  en- 
camped again.  Mr.  Graham  was  on  the  eve  of  departure 
for  England,  much  to  the  regret  of  the  Jewish  converts  and 
even  of  the  most  steadfast  Jews  of  Jerusalem,  to  whom  he 
had  shown  unfailing  kindness.     Mrs.  Finn  and  her  coadju- 


VISIT   TO    URTAS.  357 

tors  in  the  management  of  the  Jewish  Plantation,  and  Mr. 
Meshullam  and  his  family,  united  in  publicly  testifying 
their  sense  of  his  kindness,  by  inviting  the  principal  Israel- 
itish  Christians  living  in  Jerusalem  to  spend  Thursday, 
July  24th,  at  Urtas,  to  meet  him  and  his  friends,  among 
whom  we  were  included.    . 

By  this  time  my  readers  know  the  road  to  the  pleasant 
gardens  of  Urtas.  The  scenery  was  slightly  changed,  for 
the  corn  was  all  reaped,  and  green  millet  was  growing  on 
the  plains. 

We  reached  the  valley  at  an  early  hour.  The  little 
stone  house  could  not  accommodate  one-half  of  the  party, 
so  we  were  conducted  by  Mr.  Meshullam  to  a  guest- 
chamber  made  ready  for  the  occasion.  It  was  the  joint 
work  of  nature  and  art.  Three  sides  of  it  were  formed  of 
the  steep  rugged  rocks,  like  seaside  cliflfs ;  a  fourth  wall 
had  been  built  up  of  hewn  stone,  and  was  furnished  with 
a  wide  door,  for  this  place  was  ordinarily  used  as  a  stable 
for  cows,  horses,  and  camels.  It  is  about  fifty  feet  by 
thirty.  Two  large  fig-trees  grew  in  the  middle,  and  their 
leafy  branches  made  an  appropriate  roof.  Divans,  cushions, 
and  carpets  had  been  spread  on  the  ground,  and  over  these, 
boughs  and  leaves  of  sweet  lemon  and  citron  were  strewn. 
On  the  ledges  of  the  brown  and  yellow  rocks  a  few  wild 
flowers  grew,  and  one  tall  wild  hollyhock  stood  proudly  in 
a  corner,  covered  with  pink  blossoms.  Wild  honeysuckles 
crept  from  the  slope  above,  and  festooned  the  rude  walls. 
A  table  was  arranged  in  the  center,  and  breakfast  was 
spread. 

There  were  twenty-three  Christian  Israelites  present,  be- 
sides Mr,  Graham  and  about  a  dozen  of  his  friends,  with 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Finn,  and  the  Rev.  J.  Nicolayson.  The 
latter,  after  breakfast,  stood  in  the  shade  of  a  rock,  and 
addressed  the  company  present  with  aflFectionate  and  earnest 
gravity.  The  Rev.  Mr.  Hefter,  an  Israelite,  then  rose  and 
spoke  to  his  brethren,  "  and  when  they  heard  that  he  spake 
in  the  Hebrew  tongue,  they  kept  the  more  silence."     Mr. 


358  DOMESTIC   LIFE   IN   PALESTINE. 

Nicolayson  repeated  to  us  in  English  some  of  Mr.  Hefter's 
principal  remarks.  Then  the  Third  Psalm  was  sung  in 
Hebrew,  in  alternate  solo  and  chorus,  to  a  very  ancient 
Oriental  melody,  which  was  sweetly  echoed  by  the  rocks 
and  hills  around — rocks  and  hills  which  had  very  likely 
been  trodden  by  David  himself.  The  bright  wild  gold- 
finches in   the  trees  above  us  joined   loudly  in  the  song. 

After  this,  the  company  separated  into  little  groups. 
Some  wandered  to  the  vineyards,  where  the  well-trained 
vines  were  laden  heavily  with  fruit.  Others  went  to  see 
the  spring,  and  we  rested  by  the  stream,  enjoying  the  sound 
of  the  rippling  water,  which  flowed  along  just  outside  the 
guest-chamber. 

I  induced  a  peasant-boy  to  let  me  take  his  portrait.  He 
sat  on  a  rock  opposite  to  me,  half  in  the  sunlight  and  half 
in  the  shade.  He  wore  a  red  and  yellow  shawl  as  a  tur- 
ban, and  a  coarse  white  linen  shirt,  with  a  red  leather 
girdle.  On  his  finger  he  displayed  a  large  silver  ring  with 
a  small  blue  stone  in  it,  as  a  defense  against  evil  eyes  and 
necromantic  arts. 

Some  Arab  sheikhs  from  Hebron  came  to  Urtas  to  settle 
some  business.  They  seemed  very  much  surprised  to  see 
so  many  strangers  there. 

When  the  shadows  began  to  lengthen,  the  guests  assem- 
bled, and  the  table  was  spread  with  fowls,  and  various 
Italian  and  Eastern  compositions.  The  chief  dish  was  a 
fine  lamb,  stufied  with  rice,  raisins,  pistachio-nuts,  pine 
seeds,  and  spice,  roasted  entire,  in  a  hole  dug  in  the 
ground  for  the  express  purpose.  The  garden  had  fur- 
nished abundance  of  vegetables,  and  ears  of  maize  or  In- 
dian corn,  which  were  boiled  whole.  The  great  attraction 
of  the  dessert  was  a  pyramid  of  ripe  peaches,  the  "  first- 
fruits  "  of  the  orchard. 

Several  appropriate  and  interesting  speeches  were  made, 
and  Mr.  Graham,  after  speaking  of  the  beauty  of  the 
valley  in  particular,  and  the  natural  fertility  of  the  whole 
country,  said,  "Although  there  are   so   many  waste  places 


OUR  RETURN  HOME.  359 

and  desolate  hills,  they  are  not  barren,  they  only  want 
cultivation.  Let  us  be  of  the  same  mind  with  Caleb,  the 
son  of  Jephunneh,  and  Joshua,  the  son  of  Nun,  who 
brought  a  good  report  of  the  land."  Then  all  present, 
with  one  accord,  answered,  shouting,  "  It  is  a  goodly  land ! 
It  is  a  goodly  land !" 

Soon  afterward  we  rode  homeward,  and  the  moon  had 
risen  when  we  reached  the  Talibiyeh. 


360  DOMESTIC  LIFE  IN  PALESTINE. 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

FROM  JERUSALEM  TO  HAIFA. 

On  Friday,  July  25tli,  all  was  in  readiness  for  our  return 
to  Haifa  by  way  of  Yafa.  Khawadja  Ody  Azam,  of  Nab- 
lils,  had  arranged  to  accompany  us,  and  we  started  about 
one  hour  before  sunset. 

We  hastened  along  the  valleys  and  over  the  hills,  now 
quite  familiar  to  me,  and  reached  Kyriat  el  Enab — com- 
monly called  Abu  Ghosh — at  nine  o'clock.  Close  to  the 
village  there  is  a  large,  smooth,  circular  platform  of  earth, 
slightly  raised  and  surrounded  by  large  stones  and  shrubs. 
A  gigantic  mulberry-tree  stands  in  the  center.  Under  its 
shade  the  chief  men  of  the  village  assemble  nearly  every 
day.  It  is  their  council-chamber,  their  exchange,  their 
lounging-place,  and  their  play-ground.  They  smoke,  they 
sleep,  they  play  at  draughts  and  other  games,  and  transact 
all  kinds  of  business  there.  This  spot  is  the  favorite 
camping-ground  of  travelers,  and  here  we  alighted.  My 
brother  led  me  over  the  stones  on  to  the  platform.  Two 
or  three  lanterns  were  hanging  from  the  tree-branches,  and 
shone  upon  a  little  party  of  Moslems,  who  were  seated  in 
a  circle  just  beneath.  They  rose  on  seeing  us,  and  greeted 
us  gravely.  A  large  reed-mat,  rolled  up  and  leaning 
against  the  tree-trunk,  was  immediately  put   down  for  us. 

Our  arrival  was  made  known  to  Hajj  Mustafa  Abu 
Ghosh,  the  Governor.  He  sent  us  his  greetings,  with  some 
melons,  grapes,  coffee,  and  a  couple  of  wax  candles.  The 
latter,  for  want  of  candlesticks,  we  stuck  in  the  ground. 
A  white  cloth  spread  over  the  mat  served  as  our  supper- 
table.  The  Moslems  watched  us  in  perfect  silence  while 
we  chatted  over  our  cold  roast  chickens. 


ARABIC  ART  AND   POETRY.  361 

The  stars  shone  splendidly,  and  a  very  slight  breeze 
stirred  the  leaves  of  the  tree  above  us.  In  the  mean  time, 
our  tents  had  been  pitched.  The  Moslems  went  up  to  the 
village,  and  we  retired  to  rest. 

At  five  o'clock  on  the  following  morning  we  started 
again.  We  lunched  in  a  fruit-garden  at  Kubab,  where 
prickly-pears  were  fine  and  abundant,  and  reached  Ramleh 
at  eleven  o'clock.  We  rested  during  the  heat  of  the  day  at 
the  house  which  we  had  visited  in  August.  A  new  draw- 
ing-room, or  divan,  had  been  built,  and  the  white  walls 
were  bordered  with  blue  arabesque  designs,  and  hung  wth 
curious  pictures,  specimens  of  caligraphic  art.  Long  his- 
tories were  written  in  ornamental  Arabic  characters,  ar- 
ranged so  as  to  represent  animals,  real  and  imaginary. 
There  was  a  lion  very  carefully  done.  At  a  little  distance 
it  looked  only  like  an  ordinary  quaint  pen-and-ink  drawing, 
though  in  reality  every  line  consisted  of  part  of  a  word. 
The  Arabs  very  much  admire  these  tedious,  unartistic,  and 
time-taking  productions.  Almost  the  only  modern  Arabic 
poetry  which  is  published  partakes  of  the  same  spirit  of 
ingenious  trifling;  for  the  chief  aim  seems  to  be,  to  com- 
pose verses  in  which  certain  names  and  phrases  are  intro- 
duced intricately,  in  an  acrostic  form,  with  elaborate  care, 
but  without  any  true  poetic  feeling. 

The  real  poetry*  of  the  country  is  unwritten.  It  is  the 
every-day  language  of  the  people.  They  are  all — more  es- 
pecially the  Bedouins  and  the  peasants — unconscious  poets. 

Their  natural  artistic  feeling,  and  their  sense  of  beauty 
and  fitness,  are  shown  in  their  costumes,  which  are  always 
harmonious  in  color,  and  never  embroidered  except  with 
pure  and  graceful  designs.  They  show  their  skill  and  taste 
in  the  simple  and  appropriate  forms  of  their  home-made 
lamps,  jars,  dishes,  stoves,  and  other  articles  of  domestic 
use,  which  they  model  in  clay  and  expose  to  the  sun  till 
they  are  thoroughly  baked. 

The  windows  of  the  new  room  commanded  a  fine  view, 
the  central  object  being  the  tall,  Saracenic  tower,  for  which 

31 


362  DOMESTIC  LIFE  IN  PALESTINE. 

E-amleh  is  renowned.  It  was  built  early  in  the  14tli  cen- 
tury. There  are  fruit-gardens  on  each  side  of  it,  and  the 
white  domes  of  the  houses  appear  between  the  green  trees. 
In  an  open  space  in  front  a  troop  of  tired  camels  were 
kneeling,  and  their  drivers  were  sleeping  in  the  shade  of 
the  rough  stone  garden-walls  and  hedges  of  cactus.  The 
olive-groves  and  palm-trees  of  Ramleh,  and  the  wide  undu- 
lating plain  of  Judea  could  be  seen  beyond,  and  the  pic- 
ture was  bounded  by  a  range  of  blue  and  gray  hills,  which 
the  sunny  haze  caused  to  appear  more  distant  than  they 
we^e  in  reality.  I  sketched  this  scene,  while  my  good- 
natured  hostess  watched  my  pencil.  She  said,  "Peace  be 
upon  your  hands,  0  my  daughter !"  We  mounted  again 
at  about  five,  rode  quickly  over  the  sandy  plain,  and  at 
about  an  hour  after  sunset  we  reached  the  Yafa  Gardens, 
where  the  air  was  balmy,  warm,  and  fragrant,  and  reminded 
us  of  the  atmosphere  of  a  well-kept  English  conservatory. 
"We  went  straight  to  the  Latin  Convent  by  the  seaside,  and 
found  that  the  suite  of  rooms  belonging  to  the  Patriarch 
of  Jerusalem  had  been  prepared  for  us,  by  his  orders.  A 
Spanish  monk  spent  the  evening  with  us,  on  the  starlit  ter- 
race, looking  over  the  Mediterranean. 

The  next  morning,  Sunday,  we  breakfasted  with  Dr. 
Kayat,  the  English  Consul,  and  then  accompanied  him  to 
the  Mission  House,  where  service  was  conducted  by  Mr. 
Kruse.  I  spent  the  remainder  of  the  day  there  with  his 
family.  Mrs.  Krus6  had  established  a  day-school  for  Arab 
girls.  She  told  me  that  she  found  it  difiicult  and  rather 
discouraging  work,  not  on  account  of  deficiency  of  capacity 
in  the  children,  but  because  the  ideas  which  they  imbibed 
unconsciously,  and  therefore  perhaps  the  more  deeply,  in 
their  homes,  constantly  counteracted  the  influence  of  the 
lessons  which  they  learned  at  school.  We  sat  for  a  long 
time  in  the  cool  of  the  evening  among  the  flowers  on  the 
terrace,  and  watched  the  sun  as  it  went  down. 

The  next  day  my  brother  was  busy  at  the  Consulate. 
He  settled  by  arbitration  a  rather  serious  and  long-standing 


THE   SEA-SHORE.  363 

dispute  between  an  English  naturalized  subject  and  an 
English  protege.  The  Arabs  praised  his  judgment  and 
tact  loudly,  and  said,  "  He  has  done  well  and  wisely.  He 
has  saved  the  lamb  without  leaving  the  wolf  to  suffer  hun- 
ger." The  disputants  declared  themselves  content  and 
reconciled. 

At  four  o'clock  we  started  to  go  by  land  up  the  coast  to 
Haifa.  A  large  number  of  our  friends  walked  with  us  as 
far  as  the  town-gate,  and  then  took  leave  of  us,  saying, 
"  Go  in  peace,"  and  "  God  direct  you."  The  broad  sandy 
road  outside  was,  for  the  distance  of  a  quarter  of  a  mile, 
lined  with  people,  sitting  on  very  low  stools,  or  half-reclin- 
ing on  mats.  I  do  not  know  any  place  where  there  are  so 
many  well-dressed  turbaned  and  tarbushed  loungers  to  be 
seen  smoking,  musing,  gossiping,  and  playing  with  their 
rosaries,  as  outside  the  gate  of  the  town  of  Yafa  just  before 
sunset.  In  the  same  place  a  market  is  held  in  the  early 
morning,  and  then  there  is  a  crowd  as  large,  but  much 
more  motley,  noisy,  and  busy. 

We  soon  made  our  way  to  the  shell-strewn  shore.  The 
sea  was  rolling  toward  us  on  our  left  hand,  the  white- 
crested  waves  washed  over  the  half-buried  skeletons  of  the 
many  ships  and  boats  which  had  been  wrecked  there,  and 
threw  under  our  horses'  feet  masses  of  sea-weed  and  large 
fragments  of  sponge.  Little  birds  were  running  swiftly 
along  the  sands,  and  gulls  were  flapping  their  broad  white 
wings  above  our  heads.  The  cliffs  on  our  right  were  very 
low,  and  here  and  there  covered  with  thistles  and  shrubs. 
Sometimes  we  could  see  the  inland  country,  the  Plain  of 
Sharon,  bounded  by  the  far-away  hills  of  Judea.  The  sea 
margin  is  broad,  and  composed  almost  entirely  of  broken 
shells. 

We  were  approaching  a  river  called  "Nahr  el  Aujeh." 
We  saw  some  peasants  who  were  ahead  of  us  preparing  to 
cross.  They  took  off  their  clothes.  One  of  the  men  made 
a  tight  bundle  of  his  scanty  clothing,  and  threw  it  with  a 
bound  safe  on  to  the  opposite  bank.     The  others,  less  ven- 


864  DOMESTIC    LIFE   IN  PALESTINE. 

turesome,  tied  their  wardrobes  on  the  backs  of  their  laden 
mules.  Then  they  plunged  into  the  stream,  and,  leading 
their  reluctant  mules  carefully,  they  walked  through  the 
water,  which  was  as  high  as  their  waists.  They  were  all 
safe  over  and  hastily  dressing  themselves,  by  the  time  we 
reached  the  river-side.  We  found  the  stream  very  rapid, 
and  even  in  the  best  fording-place  it  was  at  least  three 
feet  deep.  My  horse  was  rather  tall  for  an  Arab,  and  he 
carried  me  over  so  well  that  I  did  not  get  very  wet,  though 
in  leaping  and  scrambling  out  of  the  stream  on  to  the  bank 
we  were  all  well  sprinkled.  The  sunset  was  cloudless,  the 
sky  was  shaded  in  imperceptible  gradations,  from  a  deep 
red,  which  merged  into  orange  tints  of  every  shade ;  the 
palest  was  lost  in  a  broad  belt  of  delicate  green,  and  this 
blended  with  the  blue  above  us. 

A  multitude  of  crabs  were  running  from  their  sand-holes 
toward  the  sea,  and  oyster-catchers  were  busily  seeking  an 
evening  meal.  The  cliffs  on  our  right  hand  were  now  con- 
siderably higher  and  steeper.  They  were  formed  of  a  con- 
glomerate of  shells  and  sand.  In  some  places  the  beach 
was  very  narrow  and  rocky.  The  twilight  deepened  rapidly, 
and  a  thick  mist  rose  from  the  ground,  so  that  we  could 
only  see  the  upper  parts  of  the  figures  moving  before  us. 
We  met  a  long  string  of  camels,  swinging  themselves  lazily 
along,  and  a  group  of  Bedouins  followed  them.  They 
looked  very  strange  and  shadowy,  partly  concealed  and 
partly  magnified  as  they  were  by  the  mist.  Our  kawass, 
moving  steadily  before  us,  appeared  to  be  gliding  along 
without  feet.  We  rode  on  quickly  to  El  Haram,  which  we 
reached  by  making  our  way  through  a  curious  winding  fis- 
sure in  the  cliffs.  It  is  an  ancient  water-course,  which  now 
serves  for  a  road.  A  low  rough  wall  of  rock  stands  in  the 
center,  and  divides  it  into  two  natural  causeways. 

The  groom  alighted  and  led  the  way,  groping  along  the 
winding  road  with  a  large  lantern  in  his  hand.  As  soon 
as  we  reached  the  top  of  the  high  cliffs  we  were  out  of  the 
mist,  and  could  see  the  silhouette  of  "  El  Haram  Aly  ebn 


MOSLEM  VILLAGE.  865 

Aleim  " — "  the  Sanctuary  of  Aly^  the  son  of  Aleim."  This 
place  consists  of  a  few  well-built  stone  houses,  clustering 
round  an  ancient  mosque.  It  is  a  very  favorite  retreat  of 
Derwishes  and  Moslem  saints.  "We  were  conducted  through 
several  court-yards  and  passages,  then  up  a  steep  uncov- 
ered stone  staircase,  on  to  a  wide  terrace,  where  a  party  of 
Moslems  were  sitting  round  a  little  mountain  of  rice,  and 
eating  it  quickly   and   silently  by  star  and   lantern  light. 

The  sheikh  of  the  village  welcomed  us,  and  invited  us  to 
enter  the  spacious  and  lofty  guest-chamber,  which  opened 
on  to  the  terrace.  Little  red  earthenware  lamps  of  antique 
form  were  lighted  and  placed  in  niches  round  the  room, 
and  then  we  could  see  that  the  roof  was  dome-shaped,  the 
ceiling  fluted,  and  the  walls  plastered  and  ornamented. 
But  the  whole  surface  was  blackened  with  smoke  from  the 
wood-fires,  which  are  always  kept  burning  in  the  center  of 
the  floor  in  Winter-time. 

There  was  nothing  in  this  room  except  a  few  old  reed- 
mats,  which  were  spread  all  round  near  the  walls.  "We 
had  some  of  our  tent  furniture  brought  in,  and  after  taking 
supper,  making  notes,  and  chatting  with  the  sheikh  over 
our  coff'ee  and  narghiles,  we  walked  for  a  short  time  on  the 
starlit  terrace,  where  our  fellow-travelers  and  servants, 
rolled  up  in  their  cloaks  and  wadded  quilts,  were  already 
in  deep  sleep.  "We  rested  for  a  few  hours  in  the  great 
guest-chamber,  and  when  the  muezzin  sang  from  the  little 
minaret  close  by,  saying,  "  Awake,  sleepers,  it  is  better  to 
pray  than  to  sleep,"  we  answered  to  the  call,  and  then 
went  on  to  the  terrace. 

The  day  was  just  beginning  to  dawn.  It  was  three 
o'clock,  and  the  loud  shrill  voice  echoing  from  the  court- 
yard below,  reminded  us  that  it  was  the  first  hour  of 
"  cock-crowing."*  The  moon  had  not  long  risen.  She  was 
in  her  last  quarter,  but  looked  very  clear  and  bright. 

After  breakfasting,  we  mounted  at  four  o'clock,  and 
continued   our  journey  northward   along  the  coast,  but  at 

*  The  second  "  cock-crowing  "  is  at  sunrise. 


366  DOMESTIC   LIFE  IN  PALESTINE. 

a  little  distance  from  the  sea,  whicli  was  quite  concealed 
from  us  by  a  ridge  of  drifted  sand-hills.  We  traversed  a 
wild,  undulating,  sandy  plain,  uncultivated,  uninhabited, 
treeless,  unwatered,  and  quite  unmarked  by  roads.  There 
were  patches  of  poa  bulbosa,  marram-grass,  sea-holly,  and 
thistles  of  many  kinds,  with  pink,  blue,  and  yellow  blos- 
soms. Our  guide  had  to  look  very  carefully  about  him  so 
as  to  keep  in  the  right  direction,  for  there  was  no  sign  of 
a  beaten  track  any  where;  but  occasionally  we  were  re- 
minded that  we  were  not  the  first  travelers  on  that  road, 
by  the  skeletons  and  bleached  bones  of  camels  and  horses 
which  we  saw  half-buried  in  the  sand. 

The  sun,  though  not  yet  in  sight,  brightened  all  the 
Eastern  sky,  and  showed  the  dark  outlines  of  the  distant 
hills.  We  watched  for  his  coming.  Presently  half  of  the 
red  globe  appeared,  and  by  degrees  we  saw  the  whole,  just 
resting  as  it  were  upon  the  horizon.  After  a  moment's 
pause  he  seemed  to  leap  up  into  the  sky.  At  the  same 
instant,  we  with  one  accord  pronounced  the  name  of  "  Ed- 
win Arnold,"  quoting  his  sweet  song  of  the  "  Marriage  of 
the  Rhine  and  the  Moselle,"  and  we  repeated  the  well- 
remembered  words  with  new  pleasure  as  we  rode  along. 
The  sky  was  intensely  blue,  and  the  moon  still  shone  high 
above  us. 

After  sunrise,  we  met  many  droves  of  camels  laden  with 
melons.  It  was  the  time  of  the  melon  harvest.  Every 
step  we  advanced,  we  found  the  land  firmer  and  richer. 
The  long  fibrous  roots  of  the  marram-grass  had  bound  the 
sands  together,  and  made  a  bed  for  shrubs  of  many  kinds, 
but  all  were  thorny  and  prickly.  A  few  evergreen  oaks 
and  thorny  bushes  enlivened  the  desert-like  scene.  We 
drew  near  to  a  narrow  winding  river.  Its  course  was 
marked  by  tall,  flowering  reeds,  which,  in  the  distance, 
looked  like  miniature  palm-trees,  and  it  was  bordered  by 
thickets  of  oleanders,  lupins,  and  St.  John's-wort,  all  in  full 
flower.  We  crossed  this  stream,  which  is  called  the  "  Nahr 
el  Fulik,"  and  noticed  on  our  left  hand  extensive  ruins  of 


MELON  HARVEST  867 

an  ancient  city  and  fortress,  which  appeared  to  us  to  be 
Roman.  We  made  our  way  through  a  wild  shrubbery, 
formed  chiefly  of  ilex,  arbutus,  hawthorns,  and  rue.  Now 
and  then  from  the  rising  ground  we  had  a  wide  view  of 
the  sea,  which  was  as  yet  only  partially  illuminated  by  the 
sun.  Lines  of  light  traversed  its  smooth  surface,  gleaming 
through  the  openings  and  breaks  in  the  cliffs. 

We  had  reached  the  melon-growing  district,  and  a  lively 
picture  of  Arab  life  was  before  us.  Up  to  the  very  edge  of 
the  cliffs,  all  along  the  coast  as  far  as  we  could  see,  there 
were  beds  of  various  kinds  of  melons;  and  groups  of  dusky 
peasants,  in  white  shirts  and  white  turbans,  were  busily 
engaged  gathering  them,  counting  them,  and  building  them 
up  in  pyramids.  Hundreds  of  camels  were  there  too,  some 
walking  away  well  laden,  others  kneeling  down  patiently, 
while  their  panniers  were  being  filled  with  the  bulky  fruit. 
We  passed  several  mud-built  villages.  White  tents  were 
pitched  in  the  midst  of  the  gardens — I  was  told  that  they 
were  the  tents  of  the  tax-gatherers,  who  had  come  to  claim 
the  tribute  on  the  melon  harvest. 

We  alighted  in  the  midst  of  these  scenes,  near  to  the 
flourishing  village  of  Um  Khalid.  It  was  half-past  seven. 
We  rested  for  a  little  while  under  a  large  solitary  tree. 
Looking  westward,  we  could  see  a  broad  strip  of  the  now 
sunlit  Mediterranean  beyond  the  melon-gardens,  which  are 
by  no  means  picturesque.  The  large  rough  melon-leaves  lie 
flat  on  the  level  ground,  which  looks  as  if  it  were  strewed 
with  great  green  and  yellow  marbles,  fit  for  giants  to  play 
with.  There  were  no  hedges  or  trees  to  break  the  monot- 
ony of  the  view,  but  the  busy  laborers  gave  life  to  it.  The 
plots  of  ground  are  divided  by  furrowed  lines,  where  thorns 
and  thistles  flourished.  I  sketched  the  scene  for  the  sake 
of  its  singularity  and  simplicity.  We  wished  to  buy  a  few 
melons,  but  the  overseer  of  the  laborers  told  us  that  we 
might  take  as  many  as  we  liked,  but  he  could  not  sell  them 
except  by  hundreds.  After  a  refreshing  rest,  we  remounted 
and  rode  through  miles  and  miles  of  melon-ground.    Wher- 


368  DOMESTIC  LIFE  IN  PALESTINE. 

ever  the  land  in  this  district  was  left  uncultivated  or  fallow, 
the  wild  colocynth  had  sprung  up  plentifully.  This  fruit 
on  an  average  was  three  inches  in  diameter,  and  firm  and 
hard  as  a  stone,  with  a  smooth,  green,  white-and-yellow 
rind,  marked  like  fine  marble.  We  filled  our  saddle-bags  with 
it,  for  it  is  only  regarded  by  the  Arabs  as  a  weed.  Squills, 
too,  grow  profusely,  but  are  plowed  up  and  destroyed. 

We  went  down  to  the  seaside,  and  found  a  pleasant  strip 
of  shade  under  the  low  clifiB,  where  there  were  mountains 
of  melons  waiting  to  be  carried  away  in  Arab  boats,  and 
the  camels  were  coming  and  going  quickly  along  the  wind- 
ing road  from  the  cliff  to  the  shore. 

We  watered  our  horses  at  a  stream  called  Abu  Zabura. 
It  had  not  sufficient  force  to  reach  the  sea,  but  formed  a 
shallow  lake  not  far  from  it. 

We  soon  afterward  caught  sight  of  the  picturesque  ruins 
of  Caesarea,  and  alighted  there  at  half-past  ten,  and  rested 
in  the  shade  of  a  large  stone  gateway.  The  horses  were  all 
unsaddled,  and  we  made  arrangements  to  remain  there  dur- 
ing the  heat  of  the  day.  In  a  short  time  nearly  all  of  our 
party  were  fast  asleep.  I  tried  to  follow  the  example,  but 
in  vain;  so  I  climbed  up  the  cliff  and  looked  about. 

Not  a  human  being  was  visible.  Thorns  and  thistles 
grew  among  fallen  columns  and  huge  masses  of  masonry. 
The  site  of  an  ancient  Christian  church  is  marked  by  four 
massive  buttresses,  which  stand  erect  and  firm,  though  the 
walls  they  were  intended  to  support  fell  long  ago.  The 
most  important  relic  of  ancient  Csesarea  is  the  mole,  which 
stands  far  out  at  sea,  beaten  by  the  waves,  and  fringed  with 
surf.  The  large  beveled  stones  and  granite  columns  have 
fallen  into  strange  and  complicated  disorder;  but  they  seem 
to  cling  together,  and  to  support  each  other  in  their  deso- 
lation. I  came  down  on  to  the  sands  again,  and  made  a 
careful  drawing  of  this  remarkable  ruin,  stone  by  stone, 
while  I  sat  exactly  opposite  to  it,  in  the  shelter  of  a  short 
tunnel,  which  pierces  the  cliff  in  a  sloping  direction  to- 
ward the  sea.     I  supposed  it  to  be  part  of  an  ancient 


RIVER   OF    CROCODILES.  369 

sewer.  I  gathered  some  tall  sea-poppies,  with  pale-yellow 
blossoms,  which  grew  close  to  it,  and  picked  up  a  few  im- 
perfect shells. 

After  taking  some  refreshments  we  mounted  at  half-past 
three,  and  continued  our  way  along  the  sands.  We  could 
see  in  the  broken  cliffs  the  sections  of  the  foundation  of 
the  outer  walls  of  Caesarea;  three  walls  originally  sur- 
rounded the  city,  each  one  at  a  considerable  distance  from 
the  other.  The  beach  was  strewed  with  blocks  of  marble. 
Mounds  of  masonry  resting  on  rocks,  and  festooned  with 
sea-weed,  stood  there  firmly,  though  continually  washed  by 
the  waves. 

We  rode  on  quickly  till  we  came  to  "Nhar  Zurka" — 
"the  River  of  Crocodiles."  I  have  been  told  by  many 
people  that  small  crocodiles  are  found  here  even  now.  Tra- 
dition says  that  on  the  shores  of  this  river  there  was  once 
a  colony  of  Egyptians.  The  colonists  procured  some  young 
crocodiles  from  their  beloved  Nile,  and  succeeded  in  thor- 
oughly establishing  them  here. 

There  is  a  fable,  often  told  by  the  Arabs  to  this  day, 
which  gives  another  version  of  the  history  of  the  introduc- 
tion of  crocodiles  into  this  river: 

"Once  upon  a  time,  an  old  man  and  his  two  sons  dwelt 
upon  the  banks  of  the  river,  and  fed  their  flocks  in  the 
green  pastures  of  the  plain. 

"And  the  old  man  died,  leaving  to  his  two  sons  his  hid- 
den treasure,  and  his  flocks  and  herds. 

"Now  the  younger  son  was  industrious  and  prudent,  and 
his  wealth  increased  greatly. 

"The  elder  one  was  idle  and  profligate,  and  he  became 
poor.  In  his  poverty  he  looked  with  jealous  anger  on  the 
rich  flocks  and  herds  of  his  brother,  and  considered  in  his 
heart  how  he  might  destroy  them.  He  journeyed  to 
Egypt,  and  thence  brought  young  crocodiles  and  placed 
them  in  the  river.  His  hope  was,  that  his  brother's  flocks 
would  be  devoured  on  going  to  drink,  or  while  feeding  on 
the  banks.  v 


870  DOMESTIC    LIFE   IN  PALESTINE. 

"Now,  a  short  time  afterward,  the  young  man  went  down 
to  the  river  to  wash  himself,  without  taking  thought  of  the 
danger  which  he  in  his  wickedness  had  spread  there. 

"The  crocodiles  swiftly  approached  him,  and  seized  upon 
him  and  destroyed  him. 

"Such  was  the  will  of  Grod,  and  thus  the  wicked  fall  into 
the  nets  which  they  spread  for  their  neighbors." 

On  the  south  side  of  the  river  stands  an  isolated  stone 
building,  now  in  ruins.  We  supposed  it  to  have  been  an 
outpost  of  Caesarea,  and  perhaps  it  marks  the  site  of  the 
city  called  by  ancient  geographers,  "The  City  of  Croco- 
diles." 

We  found  the  river  rather  difficult  to  ford,  for  it  was 
deep,  broad,  and  rapid,  and  there  was  no  one  near  to  guide 
us  to  the  easiest  fording-place.  A  few  hours  sometimes 
makes  a  vast  difference  in  the  character  of  the  mouth  of 
a  river;  the  wind  may  entirely  carry  away  the  sand-bar,  or 
change  its  position.  Our  kawass  made  many  experiments 
before  he  found  a  safe  path  for  us,  which  we  traversed 
carefully,  one  after  the  other  in  single  file,  and  landed  on 
the  opposite  side  very  wet  and  chilly. 

We  soon  came  to  a  picturesque  but  dangerous  and  rocky 
bay,  where  small  coasting-boats  are  often  wrecked.  Here 
Colonel  the  Hon.  F.  Walpole  had  a  short  time  previously 
attacked  a  party  of  Arabs  who  were  remorselessly  plunder- 
ing some  half-drowned  sailors,  and  pillaging  their  wrecked 
vessel.  Some  of  the  wreckers  were  taken  to  Yafa  as  pris- 
oners by  the  Colonel.  We  saw  about  fifty  rice-baskets  on 
the  beach,  relics  of  the  freight  of  the  vessel  which  he  had 
protected. 

In  the  year  1858  a  little  Arab  craft — laden  with  rice 
and  oranges,  and  carrying  a  Jewish  family,  consisting  of  a 
father  and  mother,  and  several  children — was  wrecked  here 
in  a  fearful  storm.  The  boat  struck,  and  was  split  in  half. 
One  or  two  of  the  boatmen  were  saved ;  the  passengers  were 
all  drowned  or  dashed  to  death  on  the  rocks,  with  the  ex- 
ception of  a  boy  about  a  yeaj  old,  who  was  thrown  by  a 


I 


BEDOUIN  NAMES.  371 

high  wave  safely  on  to  the  shore,  where  a  number  of 
wreckers  were  assembled  to  watch  the  fate  of  the  vessel. 
They  took  up  the  young  child  wonderingly.  A  small  party 
of  Bedouins,  who  were  passing  by  at  the  time,  offered  to 
take  charge  of  him,  and  bring  him  up  as  one  of  their  own 
children,  saying,  "Do  no  harm  to  him,  for  it  is  the  will  of 
God  that  he  should  live."  So  the  wreckers  gave  him  up  to 
them,  and  the  little  Hebrew  boy  was  carried  away  I  know 
not  where.  Some  peasants  who  were  on  their  way  to  Haifa 
witnessed  this  singular  transaction,  and  through  them  I 
heard  of  it.  They  said  that  the  boy  was  fair,  strong,  and 
healthy,  and  they  would  themselves  have  taken  him  if  the 
Bedouins  had  not  done  so.  This  boy  has  perhaps  been 
nursed  by  a  Bedouin  mother,  and  will  learn  to  live  a  wan- 
dering life  in  the  land  of  his  forefathers,  in  utter  ignorance 
of  his  real  origin.  It  would  be  very  interesting,  if  it  were 
possible  to  watch  his  career,  to  see  how  far  he  will  retain 
his  national  characteristics,  physical  and  moral,  and  what 
influence  he  will  have  on  the  little  tribe  with  which  he  will 
no  doubt  at  an  early  age  incorporate  himself  by  marriage. 
I  should  like  to  meet  him  when  he  has  arrived  at  manhood, 
if  I  could  be  convinced  of  his  identity. 

Bedouins  frequently  name  their  children  after  some  cir- 
cumstance connected  with  their  nativity,  or  some  cotempo- 
rary  event;  but  there  is  every  reason  to  expect  that  this 
little  Hebrew  boy,  like  Moses,  is  called  by  a  name  having 
some  allusion  to  his  strange  history.  For  instance,  "Ebn 
el  Bahr" — Son  of  the  Sea,  or  "Minbahr" — From  the  Sea, 
would  be  natural  Bedouin  names  for  him.  It  would  be  dif- 
ficult but  not  impossible,  I  think,  to  trace  him  out  now. 
My  first  impulse,  on  hearing  of  the  circumstance,  was  to  try 
to  recover  the  boy,  and  restore  him  to  the  Hebrew  commu- 
nity, but  it  was  not  in  my  power  to  do  so. 

It  was  said  that  his  parents  were  Algerine  Jews,  who 
were  about  to  settle  in  Palestine.  The  wrecked  vessel  had 
conveyed  them  from  Egypt  to  their  untimely  graves  on  the 
shores  of  the  land  which  they  so  longed  to  see,  but  which 


872  DOMESTIC  LIFE  IN  PALESTINE. 

their  youngest  child  alone  was  permitted  to  reach  in  safety. 
He  probably  was  the  only  one  of  the  family  who  had  not 
learned  to  love  it,  and  to  believe  it  to  be  the  land  which 
was  promised  to  his  forefather  Abraham,  and  to  his  seed 
forever. 

Perhaps  the  descendants  of  this  little  Hebrew  boy  will 
some  day  be  a  subject  of  discussion,  and  a  puzzling  ethno- 
logical enigma  for  scientific  travelers. 

Beyond  the  bay  the  sands  were  broad  and  smooth.  I 
could  see  in  the  distance,  straight  before  us,  the  well-re- 
membered rocky  islands,  and  the  village  of  Tantura,  where, 
in  September,  we  landed,  "because  the  winds  were  con- 
trary." When  we  had  nearly  reached  this  place  we  turned 
away  from  the  seashore,  and  rode  inland  toward  a  little 
Moslem  village,  called  Kefr  Lamm.  We  approached  it 
through  a  district  in  which  fine  building-stone  abounds. 
We  rode  through  ancient  quarries,  and  over  large,  smooth 
slabs  of  rock,  polished  like  marble.  We  looked  into  the 
arched  recesses,  and  peered  into  large,  artificial,  gloomy 
caverns,  where,  perhaps,  the  stone-cutters  of  old  used  to 
eat  and  sleep.  These  quarries  have  evidently  not  been 
worked  for  centuries — not,  perhaps,  since  Athlite  and  Dora 
were  built.  Large  trees  and  shrubs  had  sprung  up  out  of 
the  earth  which  had  fallen  from  above,  or  had  been  drifted 
by  wind  and  rain  into  sheltered  places  in  the  bottom  of 
the  quarries. 

The  sheikh,  and  all  the  chief  men  of  Kefr  Lamm,  came 
out  to  meet  us,  for  we  were  expected,  and  were  well  known 
there.  We  rode  through  flourishing  fields  of  Indian  corn, 
millet,  sesame,  and  tobacco,  and  alighted  on  the  outskirts 
of  the  village,  which  consists  of  low  houses,  built  of  mud 
and  stone.  I  found  my  tent,  which  had  preceded  me,  al- 
ready pitched  amid  little  mountains  of  wheat  and  barley, 
near  to  an  extensive  thrashing-floor,  where  oxen  were  busy 
treading  out  the  corn.  Carpets  and  cushions  were  soon 
spread  for  us  on  rising  ground,  in  the  open  air,  and  coffee 
and  pipes  were  brought.     The  sheikh,  and  the  priest,  and 


MOSLEM    PRAYERS.  373 

the  old  men  of  the  village  sat  opposite  to  us  in  a  half- 
circle,  while  the  young  men  were  standing  round,  or  resting 
on  the  heaps  of  wheat  near. 

We  were  not  quite  a  mile  from  the  shore,  and  were 
facing  the  sea  and  the  setting  sun.  A  long  line  of  coast 
was  in  sight.  The  rocky  islands  and  ruins  of  Tantura — the 
ancient  Dora — could  be  plainly  seen,  a  little  way  to  the 
south,  and  the  tall  tower  of  Athlite,  or  Castelum  Pelegri- 
num,  appeared  far  away  in  the  north. 

At  the  moment  when  the  sun  dropped  down  into  the  sea, 
the  village  priest  rose,  and  stood  in  the  middle  of  a  large, 
smooth,  and  well-swept  thrashing-floor,  which  was  close  by. 
He  looked  earnestly  and  solemnly  toward  the  south,  and 
sang,  in  a  loud  and  sonorous  voice,  the  call  to  evening 
prayer.  There  was  no  minaret  or  mosque  in  the  village. 
The  sheikh,  and  the  elders  who  had  gathered  round  us, 
immediately  rose  and  assembled  on  the  thrashing-floor,  in 
a  double  row  behind  the  priest,  who  thus  looked  truly  like 
the  leader  of  the  little  band.  They  echoed  his  words,  and 
followed  all  his  movements  with  precision,  kneeling  and 
bowing  their  faces  to  the  ground,  and  uplifting  their  hands 
and  rising  to  their  feet  with  one  accord.  They  were  joined 
by  the  laborers  from  the  other  thrashing-floors  and  by  our 
Moslem  servants,  but  the  younger  men  who  had  been  talk- 
ing with  us  hesitated  at  first  to  attend  to  the  call  to  prayer. 
They  looked  at  each  other  as  if  undecided  what  to  do,  and 
then  at  us,  as  if  they  were  ashamed.  We  tried,  by  keeping 
perfectly  still  and  silent,  to  make  them  understand  that  we 
did  not  expect  or  wish  them  to  neglect  their  devotions  on 
our  account.  Suddenly  they  rose  altogether  and  ranged 
themselves  in  a  row  on  the  border  of  the  thrashing-floor, 
and  their  strong  voices  blended  with  the  voices  of  their 
fathers  as  they  cried,  "  There  is  no  God  but  God,  and 
Mohammed  is  his  Prophet." 

No  women  came  forward  to  pray,  but  I  saw  some  stand- 
ing afar  off"  watching  the  assembly.  The  prayers  occupied 
rather  more  than  a  quarter  of  an  hour.     I  had  never  seen 


374  DOMESTIC  LIFE  IN  PALESTINE. 

a  service  conducted  with  more  solemnity,  even  within  the 
sacred  inclosure  of  the  Sanctuary  at  Jerusalem. 

Immediately  afterward,  supper  was  brought  for  us,  and 
at  the  same  time  a  wooden  bowl — rather  shallow,  but  about 
a  yard  in  diameter,  and  filled  with  steaming  rice  boiled  in 
butter — was  placed  on  the  ground  at  a  little  distance  from 
us.  Metal  dishes  containing  meat,  eggs,  vegetables,  and 
cream,  were  added  to  the  feast,  round  which  the  sheikh, 
the  priest,  and  the  elders  of  the  village  assembled.  They 
ate  quickly  and  silently,  dipping  pieces  of  their  thin  leath- 
ery loaves  into  the  dishes  of  fried  eggs  or  into  the  cream — 
tearing  the  tender  morsels  of  meat  to  pieces  with  their  fin- 
gers— dipping  their  hands  together  into  the  mound  of  rice 
and  skillfully  and  neatly  taking  it  up  in  pellets.  When 
they  were  satisfied,  they  retired  one  after  the  other  to  wash 
their  hands  and  to  light  their  pipes.  Their  places  were 
quickly  taken  by  the  younger  men  and  boys  in  turn,  and, 
when  they  had  all  finished,  the  servants  gathered  round, 
eating  from  the  same  dishes,  the  simplest  of  which  had 
been  replenished  during  the  repast.  Several  sets  of  Arabs 
silently  swallowed  their  supper  while  we  leisurely  used  our 
knives  and  forks.  The  fragments  that  remained  after  the 
feast  were  not  carried  away  till  all  the  men  and  boys  of 
the  village  had  eaten  there,  but  the  women  ate  elsewhere 
in  private. 

We  had  some  fine  green  figs,  the  first  I  had  tasted  that 
year.  We  found  all  the  fruits  and  vegetables  in  the  plain 
of  Dor,  in  a  much  more  advanced  state  than  those  in  the 
hill-country  of  Judea.  After  sitting  in  the  open  air  till 
about  nine  I  retired  to  my  tent.  My  fellow-travelers,  in- 
cluding my  brother,  wrapped  themselves  in  cloaks,  and 
slept  on  the  hillocks  of  wheat.  I  rose  at  five,  and  from 
the  door  of  my  tent  I  watched  the  rising  of  the  sun  above 
the  range  of  Carmel. 

After  taking  some  excellent  milk  and  coflFee,  we  started 
and  rode  through  the  well-cultivated  fields,  the  fruit  and 
vegetable  gardens,  and  the  neglected  quarries  north  of  Kefr 


PIANO   AT  HAIFA.  375 

Lamm.  We  were  soon  by  the  seaside  and  in  the  road 
which  we  had  traversed  in  September.  We  again  looked 
with  admiration  on  the  ruins  of  Athlite,  and  passed  through 
the  ancient  defile  into  the  plain,  across  which  the  road 
formerly  passed ;  many  traces  of  it  may  still  be  seen.  This 
plain  was  much  more  green  and  beautiful  than  when  we 
had  seen  it  before,  and  the  fountain  called  "  Ain  Dustrei" 
was  bordered  with  oleanders  covered  with  pink  blossoms. 
At  about  eight  we  paused  by  a  spring,  down  on  the  sands, 
half-way  between  Athlite  and  the  headland  of  Carmel. 
There  is  a  square  stone  building  over  the  spring  with  a 
deep  trough  or  reservoir  all  round  it.  Here  we  alighted 
and  breakfasted  on  fish  and  peasant  bread,  and  then  rode 
on  quickly  to  Haifa,  which  we  reached  at  ten  o'clock,  July 
30th,  and  the  hearty  welcome  with  which  we  were  greeted 
gave  us  great  pleasure. 

Our  friend  Mohammed  Bek  was  one  of  our  first  visitors, 
and  he  was  soon  followed  by  Saleh  Bek  Abdul  Hady,  the 
ex-governor,  who  told  me  that  his  wives  whom  I  had  vis- 
ited at  Arrabeh  were  established  in  Haifa,  and  were  long- 
ing to  see  me.  There  were  some  additions  to  the  European 
colony,  and  when  Signer  Yegetti,  the  Dutch  Vice-Consul, 
called,  he  informed  us  that  he  had  obtained  a  piano.  It 
was  the  first  which  had  ever  been  introduced  into  Haifa, 
and  there  was  no  one  in  the  town,  excepting  myself,  who 
knew  how  to  touch  it. 

He  invited  all  the  Europeans  to  a  soiree  a  few  days  after 
our  arrival,  that  the  new  instrument  might  be  inaugurated. 
I  had  previously  tried  it  and  consented  to  preside  on  the 
occasion,  as  there  was  no  one  else  to  do  so. 

There  was  quite  a  sensation  in  Haifa  that  night,  and  the 
open  space  in  front  of  the  house  was  crowded  with  listeners, 
among  whom  were  the  new  governor,  Zachariah  Agha,  a 
Turk,  Mohammed  Bek,  and  all  the  chief  Moslems.  They 
called  the  next  day  on  Signer  Vegetti,  begging  him  to  in- 
vite me  to  meet  them  at  his  house,  that  they  might  see  and 
hear  me  play.      Then  they  came  to  my  brother  and  re- 


376  DOMESTIC  LIFE   IN  PALESTINE. 

quested  him  to  induce  me  to  go ;  so  an  evening  was  fixed 
upon,  and  we  went.  We  found  the  Governor  and  about 
twenty  Moslem  gentlemen,  in  their  richest  embroidered 
costumes,  assembled  in  the  drawing-room,  at  the  Dutch 
Vice-Consulate,  where  we  were  received  by  Signer  Vegetti 
and  his  aged  father  and  mother.  The  antechamber  was 
crowded  with  servants  and  lantern-bearers. 

The  piano  had  been  tried  in  turn  by  nearly  all  the 
guests,  and  they  said,  "  We  can  not  make  it  speak  the  same 
.  language  which  you  cause  it  to  speak,  0  lady !"  I  handed 
to  them  some  pieces  of  music,  saying,  "  Could  you  do  so 
with  the  help  of  these?"  It  was  very  amusing  to  hear 
\  their  exclamations,  and  to  observe  the  surprise  with  which 
they  watched  my  fingers,  especially  when  they  found  that  I 
looked  all  the  while  at  the  book  before  me.  They  are  ac- 
customed only  to  see  small  and  portable  musical  instru- 
ments, and  they  wondered  at  my  command  over  one  so 
large.  They  said,  "  The  laborers  at  harvest-time  do  not 
work  so  hard  or  move  their  hands  so  quickly."  They 
seemed  to  be  more  struck  with  the  rapidity  with  which  the 
-  keys  were  touched  than  with  the  sounds  which  were  pro- 
duced, till  I  played  their  national  anthem,  "Abdul  Medjid." 
Then  they  all*  seemed  roused,  and  a  clear-voiced  singer,  the 
Sims  Reeves  of  Haifa,  came  forward  immediately  and  sang. 
The  rest  of  the  company  joined  in  chorus.  One  of  the 
Beks  seemed  to  appreciate  music  so  much  that  I  told  him 
that  if  he  would  buy  a  piano  for  his  wife  I  would  teach 
her  the  use  of  it.  He  said,  "  O  my  sister,  our  women  are 
not  capable  of  learning — their  heads  are  made  of  wood — it 
would  be  as  easy  to  teach  donkeys  as  to  teach  them." 

By  degrees  nearly  every  one  in  the  town  became  familiar 
with  the  sounds  of  the  piano,  and  it  gave  rise  to  many  very 
pleasant  soirees.  This  was  the  dawn  of  a  new  era  in  the 
history  of  the  little  European  colony  at  Haifa,  and  music 
and  singing  were  cultivated  with  energy. 

I  was  very  busy  in  the  mean  time  putting  our  house  in 
order,  after   my   long   absence   from  it.     Katrine,  my  old 


HAREM   OF   SALEH   BEK.  877 

servant,  had  returned  to  Bethlehem ;  so  I  trained  a  young 
girl  of  Haifa  to  take  her  place. 

I  had  not  time  to  visit  the  harem  of  Saleh  Bek  till 
August  11th,  which  was  the  first  day  of  the  Feast  of 
Bairam,  when  all  Moslems  are  to  be  seen  in  holiday  cos- 
tume. I  went  to  the  house  attended  by  a  kawass,  who 
waited  for  me  in  the  inner  court  while  I  was  led  up  a 
crooked,  uncovered,  stone  stairway  to  a  small  square  court, 
and  thence  into  a  large  and  lofty  but  rather  gloomy  room. 
In  a  moment  I  was  surrounded  by  my  well-remembered 
friends  of  Arrabeh.  The  children  came  forward  shyly,  and 
Helweh  led  me  to  a  cushioned  seat  on  the  floor,  saying, 
"We  have  been  longing  to  see  you,  0  light  of  our  eyes; 
let  us  see  you  often.  You  are  not  like  us ;  you  may  come 
to  us  whenever  your  heart  tells  you  to  come,  but  we  may 
not  go  to  you.  When  we  first  came  here,  and  found  our- 
selves in  a  strange  place,  and  heard  that  you  were  not  yet 
arrived,  our  hearts  sank  within  us." 

The  house  which  they  occupied  was  in  the  castle  square, 
and  was  not  so  comfortable  or  so  well  built  as  the  one  in 
which  I  had  seen  them  at  Arrabeh.  Narrow  mattresses 
were  ranged  all  round  the  chief  room  of  the  harem  where 
I  was  received,  and  the  floor  was  covered  with  matting. 
The  ceiling  was  vaulted,  and  all  the  windows  which  looked 
out  on  to  public  places  were  blocked  up,  so  that  the  light 
only  came  from  the  door  and  window  which  opened  to  the 
half-covered  private  court.  Mattresses,  pillows,  and  wadded 
quilts  were  piled  up  in  an  arched  recess,  and  a  thin  muslin 
curtain  was  drawn  in  front  of  it.  Two  red  boxes  and  a  red 
cradle  stood  at  one  end  of  the  room,  and  a  charcoal  brazier 
with  all  the  requisites  for  making  coff'ee  and  preparing  nar- 
ghiles were  close  to  the  door.  A  large  embroidered  cam- 
el's-hair  cloak,  and  a  sword,  gun,  and  spear,  were  hanging 
against  the  white  cemented  walls.  Coff'ee  flavored  with  am- 
bergris, and  delicate  sherbet  made  of  almonds  and  rose- 
leaves,  were  handed  to  me.  The  servants  who  were  present 
were  the  same  whom  I  had  seen  at  Arrabeh. 

32 


378  DOMESTIC  LIFE  IN  PALESTINE. 

Helweh,  the  youngest  and  prettiest  of  the  three  wives, 
looked  much  more  womanly  and  sedate,  though  not  less 
aiFe'ctionate,  than  formerly.  She  wore  very  full,  deep,  rose- 
colored  silk  trowsers,  and  a  tight  jacket  of  violet  and  white 
striped  Damascus  satin,  sprinkled  with  small  bunches  of 
flowers,  and  round  her  waist  was  a  fine  Cashmere  shawl. 
The  eldest  wife  was  dressed  in  flowered  silk,  and  her  three 
young  daughters — of  whom  the  eldest,  named  Asme,  had 
grown  very  beautiful — wore  violet-colored  silk  jackets,  em- 
broidered with  silver-braid,  and  quite  closed  in  front.  Their 
trowsers  were  of  light  muslin,  and  made  very  full  and  long. 
They  each  wore  little  red-cloth  Constantinople  tarbushes, 
put  on  coquettishly  a  little  on  one  side.  The  other  wife 
was  busy  with  an  infant  boy  of  whom  she  seemed  to  be 
very  proud. 

While  I  was  answering  their  many  questions  about  my 
long  journey,  and  receiving  their  commiserations  because 
neither  I  nor  my  brother  were  yet  married,  the  lord  of  the 
harem  sent  word  that  he  would,  with  my  permission,  enter 
in  to  greet  me.  So  he  came.  When  he  appeared  the  wives 
and  the  women-servants  immediately  rose  and  stood  defer- 
entially till  he  was  seated ;  then,  as  they  resumed  their 
seats,  they  saluted  him  by  touching  their  foreheads  grace- 
fully with  their  hands.  In  the  mean  time  the  children 
came  forward  and  kissed  his  hands.  He  seemed  to  be  very 
kind  and  gentle  to  all  his  family.  He  said  to  me,  "I  rejoice 
to  see  you  here,  0  lady;  I  hope  that  you  will  often  come, 
for  where  you  are  there  is  clearness  and  brightness." 

His  children  unconsciously  proved  to  me  that  they  were 
accustomed  to  be  caressed  by  him,  for  they  clustered  round 
him'  lovingly,  and  little  Said  was  especially  demonstrative. 
He  said,  coaxingly,  "0  my  father,  may  I  go  to  see  the 
house  of  the  English  lady?  it  is  her  wish  that  I  should 
go."  Asm6,  his  eldest  daughter,  scarcely  spoke  a  word, 
and  sat  sedately  still  and  impassive ;  and  the  face  which  a 
few  minutes  before  had  seemed  to  be  so  beautiful  with 
vivacity  and  cheerfulness  looked  quite  unattractive. 


SALEH  bek's  children.  379 

It  seems  to  me  to  be  a  part  of  Oriental  etiquette  for  the 
elder  children  to  preserve  a  kind  of  grave  decorum  in  the 
presence  of  a  father;  the  younger  children  alone  are  free 
to  show  their  natural  feelings,  and  demonstrative  afifection 
is  regarded  as  childish  and  undignified. 

The  wives  did  not  look  quite  at  their  ease,  perhaps  be- 
cause it  was  the  first  time  that  they  had  ever  seen  their 
husband  in  the  presence  of  a  stranger,  but  they  trimmed 
his  pipe  and  waited  on  him  with  assiduity.  The  servants 
and  slaves  were  standing  near  to  the  door,  whispering  to- 
gether,  and  appeared  very  much  amused. 

Saleh  Bek  informed  me  that  he  was  about  to  send  two 
of  his  sons,  aged  fifteen  and  sixteen,  to  the  Latin  college  at 
Antura,  a  French  establishment,  not  far  from  Beirilt.  He 
said  that  if  there  had  been  an  English  college  in  the  coun- 
try, where  as  good  an  education  could  have  been  obtained, 
he  should  have  chosen  it  in  preference.  While  we  were 
talking  an  Arab  lady  was  announced,  so  Saleh  Bek  imme- 
diately rose,  and,  hastily  taking  leave  of  me,  retreated.  The 
lady  kept  her  face  closely  vailed  as  she  passed  him  in  the 
court.  When  she  came  into  the  room  the  eldest  wife  rose, 
and,  kindly  welcoming  her,  assisted  her  to  take  off  her 
white  sheet  and  colored-muslin  vail,  which  she  handed  to  a 
slave  to  fold  up.  I  found  that  the  newly-arrived  guest  was 
Um  Selim,  who  had  left  Yafa  to  reside  in  Haifa  near  to  us. 
She  had  come  to  the  harem  to  meet  me  there.  After  the 
usual  greetings  had  been  exchanged,  an  animated  conversa- 
tion was  carried  on  by  two  of  the  wives  and  Um  Selim. 
They  spoke  so  rapidly  and  vehemently  that  I  could  scarcely 
understand  a  word.  In  the  mean  time  Helweh,  who  was  by 
my  side,  explained  to  me  in  simple  words,  gently  spoken, 
the  subjects  of  the  conversation  and  the  causes  of  the  occa- 
sional bursts  of  laughter. 

After  inviting  the  children  to  come  and  see  me  on  a  cer- 
tain day,  I  took  leave  and  went  with  Um  Selim  down  into 
the  court,  where  the  kawass  awaited  me.  We  passed  the 
open  door  of  the  divan  or  reception-room  for  men.     It  was 


380  DOMESTIC    LIFE  IN  PALESTINE. 

filled  with  visitors.  The  son  of  Yassin  Agha,  on  seeing  me 
go  by,  came  out  and  asked  to  be  allowed  to  lead  me  to  his 
house  that  I  might  visit  his  mother.  I  did  so,  and  after- 
ward went  to  three  other  harems. 

On  the  second  day  of  the  feast  I  visited  some  of  the 
poorer  Moslem  families  in  the  back  streets  of  the  town. 
Following  the  kawass,  I  made  my  way  with  Um  Selim 
through  dirty  narrow  lanes,  with  gutters  running  down  the 
middle  of  them. 

"VVe  paused  at  the  house  of  a  Moslem  who  was  in  my 
brother's  employ,  and  who  had  very  recently  married  a  poor 
gardener's  daughter.  We  went  through  an  arched  doorway 
into  a  square  ill-paved  court-yard,  where  a  tent  or  booth  of 
palm-branches  and  evergreen  shrubs  had  been  made.  An 
old  mat  was  spread  within  it,  and  we  were  invited  to  sit 
down  there.  The  young  wife  was  rather  shy  and  not  at  all 
prepossessing  in  appearance.  Her  wide  mouth  and  large 
glistening  teeth  were  made  to  appear  still  more  prominent 
by  the  row  of  blue  spots  round  the  edge  of  her  thick  lips. 
Her  eyes  were  dark  with  kohl,  and  her  chest  painted  and 
exposed.  She  seemed  to  be  kept  completely  in  awe  by  an 
elderly  woman — I  think  it  was  her  mother-in-law — who 
played  the  part  of  hostess  and  acted  as  guardian  to  the 
young  wife,  who  did  not  appear  to  be  very  comfortable 
^  nor  accustomed  to  her  new  life.  She  had  never  seen 
her  husband  till  her  marriage-day,  not  quite  a  month  be- 
fore. The  "  honeymoon "  is  not  understood  among  the 
Moslems;  they  have,  I  believe,  no  word  or  idea  answering 
to  it. 

After  we  had  taken  a  tiny  cup  of  strong  coffee  without 
sugar,  the  elder  woman  took  us  to  see  the  house,  which 
consisted  of  one  room  only,  which  opened  into  the  court. 
It  was  large,  lofty,  and  windowless,  and  looked  like  a  barn, 
and  the  door  was  large  enough  to  admit  a  laden  camel. 
This  room  served  as  parlor,  kitchen,  and  bedroom,  except 
in  bright  weather,  when  the  tent  of  tree-branches  was  used. 
I  was  very  much   surprised  to  see  an  old  Italian  print, 


CHESS.  381 

representing  Moses  holding  the  tables  of  the  Law,  nailed 
against  the  smoke-blackened  wall,  and  ostrich  eggs  and  or- 
namented lamps  suspended  from  the  ceiling.  I  asked  the 
woman  what  the  eggs  were  for.  She  said,  "They  will  keep 
darkness  and  sorrow  far  from  us;"  but  she  did  not  know 
whence  the  picture  came,  or  what  it  was  for,  and  seemed 
surprised  when  I  told  her  that  it  represented  "Neby 
Mussa,"  the  prophet  Moses. 

A  few  days  afterward,  when  Saleh  Bek  Abdul  Hady 
called,  he  saw  a  set  of  chessmen  on  our  table.  He  eagerly 
inquired  if  we  could  play,  adding,  "I  have  not  had  a  game 
at  chess  since  the  time  of  Ibrahim  Pasha.  I  used  to  play 
with  his  officers  at  'Akka."  When  he  found  that  I  under- 
stood the  game  he  exclaimed,  "El-hamdou  lillah!  [praised 
be  God!']  I  will  come  every  day  to  play  with  you!"  I  said, 
"Excuse  me,  that  would  be  too  often;  I  have  not  time  to 
play  every  day."  However,  we  spent  an  afternoon  at  chess 
about  once  a  fortnight,  and  I  found  that  I  had  a  skillful 
and  careful  antagonist.  He  was  the  only  Arab  in  Haifa 
who  could  play  chess. 

His  children,  especially  the  boys,  frequently  came  to  our 
house,  and  were  soon  quite  at  home  there.  They  and  their 
young  cousins  from  Arrabeh,  who  sometimes  came  on  a  visit 
to  Haifa,  were  very  intelligent  and  inquiring,  and  picked 
up,  almost  unconsciously,  a  great  deal  of  information  from 
our  illustrated  books. 

The  three  little  girls  came  sometimes,  but  were  always 
accompanied  by  an  old  female  servant — or  duenna — to 
prevent  them  from  being  seen  by  strangers.  These  visits 
were  only  made  when  it  was  known  that  my  brother  was 
out  of  town.  The  women  came  once  to  see  me,  by  special 
permission,  but  the  doors  of  the  Consulate  were  guarded  by 
their  own  servants  all  the  while  they  were  there.  I  went 
to  see  them  as  often  as  I  could,  and  was  always  heartily 
welcomed.  Except  on  fite-days,  they  were  generally 
dressed  in  jackets  and  trowsers  made  of  Manchester  prints 
or  muslins. 


382  DOMESTIC  LIFE  IN  PALESTINE. 

I  found  that  the  senior  wife,  who  had  evidently  once 
been  very  handsome,  formerly  belonged  to  a  wealthy  Turk, 
and  had  been  presented  to  Saleh  Bek,  in  her  youth,  as  a 
reward  fdr  some  special  service.  She  had  been  brought  up 
in  great  privacy,  in  a  harem  in  Constantinople,  and  was 
thence  conveyed  to  her  new  home  at  Arrabeh,  where  she 
was  at  first  very  unhappy,  for  she  was  a  complete  stranger 
there,  and  spoke  only  Turkish.  Fortunately  for  her,  Saleh 
Bek  understood  it,  and  she,  by  degrees,  acquired  the  Arabic 
language.  Though  she  had  come  from  a  great  city,  she  had 
seen  so  little  of  it,  that  she  knew  no  more  of  the  world 
and  its  history  than  her  new  companions  in  Arrabeh,  and 
hardly  so  much  perhaps  as  the  wives,  concubines,  and 
servants  which  Saleh  Bek  afterward  took  from  the  little 
villages  in  the  neighborhood.  The  seclusion  in  which 
Moslem  girls  are  kept  is  more  or  less  strict,  in  accordance 
with  their  rank  or  position — the  poor  having  unavoidably 
more  liberty  than  the  wealthy. 

Helweh,  who  came  from  the  little  village  of  Kefr  Kara, 
seemed  to  possess  more  natural  quickness  of  comprehension 
than  any  of  the  other  women. 

They  had  long  before  heard  Christians  spoken  of,  but  in 
terms  so  vague  that  they  hardly  regarded  them  as  fellow- 
creatures  ;  but  now  that  they  lived  in  the  little  sea-coast 
town  of  Haifa,  where  there  was  a  mixed  population,  includ- 
ing Moslems,  Jews,  and  Christians  of  distinctly  various 
sects,  and  people  of  many  nations,  they  were  by  degrees 
receiving  new  impressions,  and  ideas  which  probably  would 
not  have  entered  their  minds  if  they  had  continued  to  live 
in  the  interior,  and  in  such  an  exclusively  Moslem  district 
•IS  the  Jebel  Nablus. 

They  had  already  become  acquainted  with  a  few  of  their 
neighbors,  and  were  constantly  hearing  of  something  which 
was  to  them  new  and  strange.  Whenever  I  visited  them,  I 
found  that  they  had  some  wonder  to  relate  to  me,  or  some 
story  to  tell,  which  had  reached  them  either  through  female 
servants,  or  Christian  or  Jewish  guests,  or  the  professional 


helweh's  questions.  883 

singing  women,  or,  more  often  still,  through  the  gossiping 
attendants  at  the  Turkish  baths ;  stories  which  were  almost 
always  entirely  misunderstood,  and  which  gave  rise  to  false 
yet  strong  impressions.  It  was  an  interesting  study  for  me 
to  watch  the  constructions  which  they  put  on  the  circum- 
stances, manners,  customs,  and  forms  of  worship,  of  which 
they  heard,  but  which  they  could  not  comprehend  or  real- 
ize. I  found  it  almost  as  difficult  to  help  them  to  under- 
stand the  ways  that  were  not  as  their  ways,  and  the 
thoughts  that  were  not  as  their  thoughts,  as  it  would  be  to 
describe  the  nature  and  effect  of  light  and  color  to  a  man 
blind  from  his  birth. 

Helweh,  especially,  used  to  ask  me  suggestive  questions 
about  religion.  She  often  said,  "  Why  are  not  all  people 
of  one  religion  ?  Why  are  they  not  all  Moslems  ?  it  would 
be  much  better." 

She  always  seemed  to  forget  that  I  was  not  a  Moslem. 
She  sometimes  appealed  to  me,  with  touching  confidence, 
asking  me  to  tell  her  what  it  was  right  to  do  under  par- 
ticular circumstances.  Instead  of  deciding  for  her,  I  used 
to  try  to  awaken  in  her  mind  some  principle  by  which  she 
might  judge  rightly  ior  herself. 

I  often  found  appropriate  and  ready  answers,  by  adopt- 
ing the  very  words  of  Christ,  conveying  the  simplest  and 
most  comprehensive  of  those  lessons  of  love  which  were 
taught  long  ago  in  this  land,  and  listened  to  by  people  as 
uninstructed  and  eager  as  Helweh  herself,  and  by  Scribes 
and  Pharisees  who  were  put  to  silence  by  words  addressed 
not  to  any  particular  sect,  but  to  all  the  world. 

These  women  who  thus  questioned  me  made  me  think 
more  earnestly  and  carefully  than  I  had  ever  thought  be- 
fore, and  they  unconsciously  helped  me  to  understand  the 
natural  progress  and  growth  of  ideas.  I  could,  by  identi- 
fying myself  with  them,  partially  imagine  the  absence  of 
all  those  thoughts,  feelings,  and  conceptions  which  had 
grown  with  my  growth  and  strengthened  with  my  strength, 
till  they  seemed  almost  to  be  a  part  of  my  mind. 


384  DOMESTIC  LIFE  IN  PALESTINE. 

But  this  interesting  harem  was  not  my  only  school.  I 
mingled  at  the  same  time  with  European  and  native  Chris- 
tians, and  especially  with  the  Sekhali  family,  and  with  de- 
vout Jews,  who  kindly  helped  me  to  understand  all  the 
laws,  and  the  fasts,  and  the  feasts  which  they  observed. 
The  Oriental  Christians  are  unhappily  very  bitter  in  their 
hatred  of  the  Jews.  They  generally  treat  them  with  great 
contempt,  and  make  a  merit  of  avoiding  association  with 
them ;  but  they  agree  with  the  Moslems  in  admitting  that 
the  Jews  throughout  the  East  are,  as  a  body,  remarkable 
for  the  purity  of  their  lives,  the  simplicity  of  their  man- 
ners, and  the  strictness  with  which  they  observe  their  re- 
ligious services.  They  are,  however,  notorious  for  the 
quarrels  which  take  place  among  themselves,  and  for  the 
noisy  disputes  which  sometimes  arise  between  the  repre- 
sentatives of  the  different  congregations  or  communities. 
The  Jewesses,  especially  of  the  Ashekenazi  communities, 
are  renowned  for  their  domestic  virtue  and  industry. 

On  October  5th  my  brother  started  for  Beirut  on  busi- 
ness. I  remained  at  Haifa,  and  then  more  than  ever  I 
found  how  very  kind  and  thoughtful  my  neighbors  of  all 
classes  were;  especially  I  thank  th^French  Consul,  M. 
Aumann,  and  his  family,  for  the  friendly  and  active  sym- 
pathy which  made  me  feel  that  I  was  not  alone,  although 
there  was  no  one  in  the  town  who  could  speak  an  English 
word  to  me. 

Nearly  all  the  Moslem  ladies  of  H£lifa  took  the  oppor- 
tunity for  visiting  me  then,  and  the  Governor  and  the 
members  of  the  town  council  called  several  times  to  see  if 
they  could  serve  me  in  any  way. 

On  the  10th  of  October,  early  in  the  morning,  a  boat 
was  lost  in  a  whirlpool  within  sight  of  Haifa.  The  day 
was  very  sultry,  and  in  the  evening  the  sea  was  perfectly 
calm,  and  the  air  heavy.  After  spending  a  few  hours  with 
the  French  Consul  and  his  family,  in  their  moonlit  and 
marble-paved  court,  I  went  home,  and  notwithstanding  the 
almost  suffocating  heat,  I  slept  soundly,  till  I  was  roused 


EARTHQUAKE.  885 

by  a  deep  murmuring  sound,  which  was  like  subterranean 
thunder,  and  I  felt  my  bed  trembling  beneath  me.  At 
first  I  thought  a  wind  storm  had  risen,  but  that  was.  im- 
possible, for  the  muslin  musketo  curtains  were,  not  more 
agitated  than  my  brass  bedstead,  which  rocked  from  east 
to  west.  I  was  very  soon  satisfied  that  I  was  for  the  first 
time  in  my  life  experiencing  a  shock  of  earthquake.  I 
rose  immediately.  The  room  was  bright  with  moonlight, 
which  streamed  through  the  rattling  Venetian  shutters.  I 
opened  the  window.  The  moon  was  nearly  full ;  and,  just 
above  the  range  of  Carmel,  it  was  as  red  as  the  sun  ap- 
pears to  be  when  seen  through  an  English  fog.  The 
ground  trembled  violently  three  distinct  times,  the  second 
shock  being  the  strongest.  There  were  heavy  storm-clouds 
resting  over  Haifa,  their  western  edges  were  tinged  with 
the  lurid  light  of  the  red  moon.  My  maid-servant  was 
sleeping  soundly.  I  walked  out  into  the  open  court  of  the 
house.  The  two  kawasses  were  rolled  up  in  their  wadded 
quilts  on  their  mattresses  in  the  arched  corridor,  and  seemed 
undisturbed.  A  storm  of  thunder  and  lightning  followed, 
and  I  walked  through  the  house  from  room  to  room,  watch- 
ing the  progress  of  the  storm  and  the  breaking  up  of  the 
clouds. 

The  next  morning,  early,  the  Governor,  several  of  the 
vice-consuls,  and  many  Arab  friends,  called  to  hear  if  I  had 
been  disturbed  and  alarmed  by  the  earthquake.  Those 
who  lived  near  the  mosque  told  me  that  they  had  taken 
the  precaution  of  moving  out  of  their  houses  in  the  night, 
for  the  minaret  rocked  so  violently,  that  every  one  who 
watched  it  expected  that  it  would  fall.  Happily  no  acci- 
dent of  consequence  occurred — a  few  old  walls  only  were 
cracked  and  shaken.  Mons.  A.  told  me  that  during  the 
shock  he  had  observed  that  the  sea  was  violently  agitated, 
and  covered  with  foam,  though  there  was  no  wind. 

The  Arabs  were  all  in  great  consternation,  for  they  re- 
garded this  convulsion  of  nature  as  an  ill  omen.  For  sev- 
eral subsequent   days   nothing   else   was    talked    of.      The 

33 


DOMESTIC   LIFE  IN  PALESTINE. 

shocks  had  been  strongly  felt  at  'Akka,  Sur,  and  Saida, 
and  slightly  in  the  interior. 

All  my  visitors  had  some  story  to  tell  me  about  former 
earthquakes,  and  especially  about  the  terrible  one  which 
occurred  in  1837,  when  Safed  and  Tiberias  were  destroyed, 
and  when  Haifa  was  for  three  days  almost  deserted,  and 
people  lived  outside  in  the  open  air,  not  venturing  to  enter 
their  houses,  the  shocks  being  so  frequent.  The  heavens, 
they  said,  were  dark  at  midday,  and  the  sea  had  a  strange 
red  tinge.  Some  people  went  so  far  as  to  declare  that  "  its 
waters  were  turned  into  blood,"  and  all  agreed  that  it  lost 
its  saline  flavor,  and  had  rather  a  sweet  taste. 

On  the  22d  of  October  there  were  steady  showers  of 
rain  during  the  day,  and  in  the  evening  I  watched  one  of 
the  grandest  thunder-storms  I  had  ever  seen ;  it  was  fol- 
lowed by  a  wild  storm  of  wind  and  rain,  which  lasted  all 
night.  Soon  after  sunrise  the  wind  ceased,  and  there  was 
a  great  calm ;  but  the  streets  of  Haifa  were  like  canals, 
and  some  of  the  old  walls,  which  had  been  damaged  by 
the  earthquake,  were  quite  broken  down.  In  the  gardens 
many  of  the  finest  trees  had  been  uprooted  or  stripped  of 
their  branches :  the  pliant  palm-trees  seem  best  calculated 
to  resist  the  fury  of  these  equinoctial  gales. 

I  spent  the  afternoon  of  the  23d  of  October  with  the 
young  widow  of  Ibrahim  Sekhali.  She  was  still  mourning 
bitterly  over  her  loss.  I  tried  to  excite  her  interest,  and 
succeeded  in  gaining  her  attention  by  telling  her  about 
the  home  of  my  childhood  and  my  school-days.  She 
seemed  for  a  while  to  forget  her  own  troubles,  in  wonder- 
ing how  I  could  leave  my  parents  and  my  country,  and 
having  left  them,  how  I  could  consent  to  stay  alone  in  a 
town  where  there  were  none  of  my  ^^  own  people." 

We  were  thus  talking,  when  her  black  slave,  who  was 
sitting  on  a  mat  at  needle-work  in  the  sunshine  close  to 
the  open  door,  suddenly  rose,  and,  kissing  my  hands,  said, 
"There  is  joy  for  you!  there  is  joy! — your  brother,  the 
Consul,  has  even  now  arrived.     I  hear  the  sounds  of  many 


MY  brother's  arrival.  387 

Yoices  in  your  court."  She  was  right;  for  at  the  same 
moment  we  saw  the  flag  hoisted,  and  as  I  hastened  away 
she  said,  "  This  is  your  reward ;  God  has  brought  happi- 
ness to  you,  even  as  you  have  to-day  spoken  pleasant  words 
to  the  mother  of  fatherless  children." 

In  another  minute  I  was  with  my  brother.  He  was  ac- 
companied by  a  Turkish  gentleman,  who  had  traveled  with 
him  from  Beirut,  and  who  had  just  received  the  appoint- 
ment of  Governor  of  Haifa.  His  son,  a  nice  boy  of  about 
ten  years  of  age,  was  with  him.  They  dined  with  us,  and 
the  little  Turk  found  it  rather  difficult  to  manage  a  knife 
and  fork.  The  father  asked  me  if  I  would  undertake  to 
civilize  him.  They  were  complete  strangers  in  the  town, 
so  they  remained  at  our  house  for  two  or  three  days. 

On  the  25th,  Zachariah  Agha,  the  ex-Governor,  called  to 
take  leave  of  me,  and  then  the  new  Governor  established 
himself  at  the  castle.  He  told  me  he  did  not  think  that  he 
should  send  for  his  wives,  as  he  could  not  tell  how  long  he 
should  be  allowed  to  remain  in  office  at  Haifa. 

Some  wealthy  Moslems  have  a  home,  and  a  wife  or  two, 
in  each  of  the  villages  or  towns  where  their  public  or  pri- 
vate business  obliges  them  to  reside  for  any  length  of  time 
during  the  year. 

A  few  days  after  my  brother's  return  I  observed  that 
nearly  all  the  shops  of  Haifa  were  closed,  and  the  streets 
and  market-places  were  almost  deserted.  On  inquiry  I 
learned  that  "  the  day  of  ill  luck  "  had  arrived,  a  day  on 
which  Moslems  will  not,  on  any  account,  make  bargains  or 
transact  business.  This  dreaded  day  is  the  first  Wednesday 
in  the  month  of  Safar,  the  second  month  of  the  Moham- 
medan year.  (In  1856,  the  year  of  which  I  am  writing,  it 
fell  on  October  29th.)  The  Moslems  will  not,  if  they  can 
possibly  avoid  it,  even  speak  or  think  on  any  subject  of 
importance,  and  they  generally  remain  in-doors  on  this  ill- 
omened  day. 

Mohammed  Bek  came  to  the  Consulate  at  midday,  ask- 
ing me  to  be  his  guardian,  and  to  allow  him  to  remain  in 


888  DOMESTIC  LIFE  IN  PALESTINE. 

my  presence  till  sunset,  pretending  that  lie  thouglit  that  no 
evil  spirits  could  approach  him  there. 

I  was  told  by  a  "  true  believer  "  that  bad  angels  have,  on 
that  particular  day,  full  power  to  carry  out  all  the  mischief 
which  they  may  have  plotted  during  the  year.  In  Con- 
stantinople all  the  public  offices  are  closed,  in  consequence 
of  the  prevalence  of  this  impression ! 

On  Thursday,  the  4th  of  December,  the  Feast  of  "  Sainte 
Barbe"  was  celebrated  by  all  the  Christians  of  the  Latin 
Church  at  Haifa.  I  went  early  in  the  morning  to  see 
Madame  Aumann.  I  found  her  planting  grains  of  wheat, 
barley,  and  millet,  and  seeds  of  lentils  and  grass,  in  plates 
and  ornamental  saucers  and  large  shells.  She  merely  cov- 
ered the  grain  or  seeds  with  water,  and  then  ranged  the 
dishes  in  the  sun.  "  This,"  she  said,  "  is  always  done  on 
the  fete-day  of  Ste.  Barbe,  and  by  Christmas-day  the  grass 
and  the  grain  will  have  grown."  But  she  did  not  know 
what  it  was  intended  to  signify. 

She  invited  us  to  meet  all  the  Europeans  at  the  French 
Consulate  that  night,  and  we  went.  We  found  every  one 
full  of  fun  and  merriment,  and  one  of  the  guests,  a  Mons. 
Jullien,  who  had  lately  arrived  from  Algiers,  and  had 
served  in  the  army  there,  appeared  with  mock  solemnity,  in 
a  scarlet  robe  and  white  cardinal  cape,  in  the  character  of 
the  priest  of  Ste.  Barbe.  To  my  surprise,  the  most  devout 
Catholics  present  did  not  seem  to  be  shocked.  I  asked  one 
lady,  whom  I  knew  to  be  very  earnest  in  the  performance 
of  what  she  believed  to  be  her  religious  duties,  if  it  gave 
her  pain  to  see  such  mockery,  but  she  simply  said,  "  It  is 
custom;  there  is  no  harm  in  it." 

"When  we  were  all  assembled,  we  were  led  into  a  room, 
in  the  center  of  which  was  a  low  stool,  on  which  was  a 
very  large  dish  made  of  wood.  It  was  filled  with  wheat, 
boiled  in  honey  or  sugar,  and  mixed  with  pomegranate 
seeds.  Over  the  surface  sweetmeats  and  bleached  nuts  were 
sprinkled,  and  round  the  edge  of  the  dish  twelve  tapers 
were  burning,  and  a  flag  was  stuck  in  the  middle. 


STAINING  THE   EYELIDS.  389 

Before  we  partook  of  these  sweets,  the  soi-disant  priest 
chanted  a  litany  in  an  unknown  tongue,  which  neither  he 
nor  any  one  present  understood.  After  this  mummery  was 
over,  Madame  Aumann  fetched  a  smooth,  silver,  blunt- 
pointed  pin,  about  three  inches  long  and  the  eighth  of  an 
inch  thick,  with  an  ornamental  head.  She  then  burned 
some  sweet  gum  and  frankincense  in  the  flame  of  a  little 
antique  lamp,  and  held  the  pin  in  the  flame  till  it  had  be- 
come quite  black;  then,  after  waiting  till  the  pin  had 
cooled,  she  inserted  it  dextrously  between  her  half-closed 
eyelids,  and  rubbed  it  backward  and  forward,  as  if  really 
"  rending  her  eyes,"  as  Jeremiah  expresses  it,*  till  she  had 
produced  the  efi'ect  so  much  admired  by  Orientals.  She 
handed  the  little  instrument  round,  and  nearly  every  one 
of  her  guests  followed  her  example.  It  was  astonishing 
how  the  appearance  and  expression  of  all  the  faces,  espe- 
cially of  the  fairest  ones,  were  altered  immediately.  I 
scarcely  recognized  my  brother,  who  certainly  would  not 
have  submitted  to  this  adornment  if  he  had  not  believed 
that  he  could  wash  it  off  immediately ;  but  to  his  dismay 
it  was  many  days  before  the  black  tinge  disappeared,  and 
then  only  after  persevering  and  frequent  rubbing.  Helany, 
one  of  the  female  servants,  took  the  lamp  and  the  frankin- 
cense which  Madame  A.  had  used,  and  held  a  white  earth- 
enware pl|te  over  the  flame.  She  thus  collected  a  quantity 
of  soot.  The  soot  thus  prepared  is  mixed  with  antimony, 
and  kept  in  little  ornamental  bottles,  ready  to  be  used  in 
the  manner  described  on  page  113. 

The  Europeans,  especially  the  semi-Europeans,  strictly 
avoid  those  customs  which  they  regard  as  peculiar  to  the 
Arabs,  but  at  the  feast  of  Ste.  Barbe  they  seem  to  tolerate 
that  which  at  other  times  they  most  condemn. 

No  one  could  give  me  the  slightest  reason  for  this  fan- 
tasia, or  tell  me  any  thing  of  its  history  or  origin,  or  what 
Ste.  Barbe  had  to  do  with  the  germination  of  grain,  the 
dish  of  sweets,  and  the  twelve  candles,  which  I   suppose 

♦  Jeremiah  iv,  30. 


390  DOMESTIC    LIFE   IN  PALESTINE. 

represented  the  twelve  apostles.  Even  the  village  cure,  of 
whom  I  made  inquiries  the  next  day,  could  not  give  me 
any  information.  He  said,  "It  is  a  custom  peculiar  to  the 
Eastern  Christians."  The  Greeks  kept  it  much  in  the 
same  style  on  the  16th  of  December. 

On  referring  to  Butler's  "  Lives  of  the  Saints,"  I  find  it 
is  recorded,  under  the  head  of  December  4th,  that  Saint 
Barbara  was  a  holy  virgin  and  martyr,  "who  is  honored 
with  particular  devotion  in  the  Latin,  Greek,  Muscovite, 
and  Syriac  calendars;  but  her  history  is  obscured  by  a 
variety  of  false  acts.  Some  say  that  she  was  a  scholar 
of  Origen,  and  suffered  martyrdom  at  Nicomedia;  but  oth- 
ers say  that  she  suffered  at  Heliopolis,  in  Egypt,  about  the 
year  306 — there  stood  an  old  monastery  near  Edessa  which 
bore  her  name." 

I  was  surprised  to  see  with  what  fidelity  and  enthusiasm 
the  people  kept  this  festival,  and  yet  showed  no  curiosity 
to  learn  its  origin  or  history.  In  fact,  they  ke€p  all  kinds 
of  fasts  and  feasts,  and  perform  all  sorts  of  ceremonies, 
without  pausing  to  consider  what  they  mean.  It  is  enough 
for  them  to  know  that  they  are  "ancient  customs" — and 
customs  in  the  East  are  like  the  laws  of  the  Medes  and 
Persians.  I  do  not  pretend  that  in  England  we  are  alto- 
gether exempt  from  this  kind  of  folly,  but  it  is  much  more 
apparent  among  the  Greeks  and  Latins  of  the  East. 

On  Saturday,  the  6th  of  December,  I  was  playing  at 
chess  with  Saleh  Bek  Abdul  Hady,  when  one  of  his  serv- 
ants entered  the  drawing-room,  and  approaching  his  master, 
said,  "A  son  is  born  to  you,  my  lord."  Mohammed  Bek 
and  Saleh  Sekhali,  who  happened  to  be  present,  united 
with  me  in  congratulating  the  father,  but  he  received  the 
tidings  very  quietly,  and  to  my  surprise  persisted  in  finish- 
ing the  game,  which  he  did  as  coolly  as  he  had  commenced 
it.  He  afterward  lingered  to  read  some  ancient  Arabic 
poetry  aloud  to  my  brother,  and  did  not  leave  us  till  long 
after  sunset. 

On  Monday,  the  8th  of  December,  I  visited  his  harem. 


HELWEH   AND   HER  FIRST-BORN.  391 

In  the  chief  room  I  found  a  large  number  of  people  as- 
sembled, and  in  one  corner  there  was  a  bed,  consisting 
of  two  mattresses,  on  the  floor,  and  Helweh,  my  favorite, 
was  half  reclining  on  it.  When  I  approached  her  she 
threw  herself  on  my  neck  and  burst  into  tears,  but  quickly 
recovered  herself,  and  said,  "Welcome,  0  light  of  my 
eyes."  I  said  softly,  "  You  are  very  happy,  Helweh,  in 
being  the  mother  of  a  son.  Where  is  the  boy?"  She 
answered  sadly,  "I  have  no  son.  My  child  is  a  female 
child,  and  is  made  no  account  of." 

I  sat  on  the  edge  of  her  bed,  and  she  lifted  up  the  heavy 
coverings  by  her  side,  and  handed  to  me  a  littie  figure 
swaddled  in  white  and  purple  linen,  and  crimson  silk,  with 
its  head  bandaged  and  its  eyelids  blackened  with  kohl.  I 
said,  "What  name  shall  you  give  your  little  girl?"  She 
answered,  "  The  Bek  will  name  her — I  have  no  power." 
I  said,  "Have  you  any  choice?"  She  replied,  "I  should 
like  it  to  be  called  Miriam,  because  that  is  your  name,  and 
it  is  a  good  name."  I  said,  "  That  would  please  me  greatly, 
and  your  little  child  would  remind  you  always  of  me.  I 
will  ask  the  Bek  if  he  will  allow  it."  She  answered  im- 
mediately, "  Then  the  child  is  named  already — its  name 
is  Miriam." 

A  number  of  women  were  sitting  round  the  room  leaning 
against  the  walls.  After  coflfee  had  been  brought  for  me, 
and  a  narghile  had  been  prepared,  the  nurse,  a  strange- 
looking  woman,  with  long  ragged  hair  dyed  with  henna,  till 
it  had  become  a  tawny  red,  began  in  a  low  monotonous  key 
to  sing  a  welcome  to  the  first-born  child  of  Helweh,  and 
all  the  women  clapped  their  hands  beating  the  time. 

I  found  that  there  had  been  a  very  serious  quarrel  in 
the  harem,  and  to  prevent  mischief  Saleh  Bek  had  been 
obliged  to  hire  a  separate  house  for  one  of  his  wives,  and 
she  had  gone  there  with  her  children  and  servants. 

Soon  after  I  returned  home  I  saw  Saleh  Bek,  and  I  asked 
him  if  he  had  seen  his  new-born  child.  He  said,  "No, 
custom  forbids  me  to  see  it  or  its  mother  before  seven  days 


392  DOMESTIC  LIFE   IN  PALESTINE. 

have  passed."  He  added,  "  I  have  heard  your  wish  that 
the  child  should  be  called  '  Miriam ;'  it  is  sufficient,  and  I 
am  reconciled  to  having  a  daughter  instead  of  a  son,  be- 
cause she  may  thus  take  your  name.  If  after  three  years 
you  will  undertake  the  charge  of  her  and  teach  her  even 
as   you   have   been   taught,  I   shall   think  myself  happy." 

He  afterward  explained  to  me  that  the  messenger  who 
had  brought  the  false  tidings  to  him  of  the  birth  of  a  son 
knew  perfectly  well  that  it  was  a  daughter  which  had  been 
born  to  him ;  "  but,"  he  added,  "  in  this  land  people  are  so 
foolish  that  my  servant  was  ashamed  and  afraid  to  announce 
to  me,  tn  public,  the  birth  of  a  female  child,  for  it  is 
thought  no  honor  to  be  the  '  father  of  girls.'  "* 

He  assured  me  that  he  did  not  himself  entertain  this 
prejudice,  though  Tie  certainly  showed  more  pleasure  and 
pride  in  his  sons  than  in  his  daughters.  This  was  natural, 
for  he  had  the  opportunity  of  educating  the  former  and 
training  them  according  to  the  best  of  his  judgment,  while 
the  latter  were  a  subject  of  great  perplexity  to  him.  He 
had  become  convinced  that  the  civilization  of  a  country 
depends  very  much  on  the  character  and  position  of  its 
women,  and  he  had  liberal  and  enlightened  notions  about 
the  advantageous  influences  of  female  education  and  free- 
dom, but  he  did  not  know  how  to  take  any  steps  in  the 
way  of  reform.  He  wisely  observed  that  any  sudden 
change  would  be  dangerous,  and  lead  to  more  harm  than 
good.  This  was  a  subject  on  which  I  also  had  thought 
deeply  and  seriously.  I  found  it  rather  difficult  to  come  to 
any  practical  conclusions. 

Reform  in  any  system  or  institution,  to  be  safe  and  sure, 
and  on  a  firm  foundation,  must  arise  naturally  and  from 

*  Not  only  among  the  Moslems  does  this  prejudice  exist,  but  among  the  native 
Christian  population  also ;  and  1  am  assured  that  in  Southern  Italy  the  same  feel- 
ing prevails.  Miss  Cobbe,  in  an  article  on  "Women  in  Italy,  18G2,"  says:  "An 
English  lady,  long  resident  in  Naples,  and  married  to  a  Neapolitan,  informed  me 
that  till  quite  of  late  years  it  was  customary  among  the  poorer  classes  to  hang  a 
email  black  flag  out  of  the  window  of  the  apartment  wherein  a  girl  was  born,  to 
save  the  painful  necessity  of  informing  inquirers  of  the  unfortunate  sex  of  the 
inCwt." 


MOSLEM   WOMEN.  393 

within.  Women  like  my  friend  Helweh  might  do  much 
toward  eflfecting  a  change  for  the  better  in  the  mode  of 
life  in  harems,  and  men  like  Saleh  Bek  would  aid  and 
encourage  it. 

It  seems  to  me  that  all  that  we  can  do  is  to  enter  into 
sympathy  with  the  Moslem  women,  and  try  to  awaken  and 
develop  all  the  highest  feelings  of  their  nature,  and  to  help 
them  to  understand  and  feel  the  power  which  they  have  of 
governing  and  elevating  themselves,  and  to  encourage  them 
to  exercise  that  power,  and  to  think  seriously.  This  may 
be  done  without  the  aid  of  books,  and  without  perplexing 
them  with  new  mysteries  and  dogmas.  We  might  lead 
them  insensibly  to  acknowledge  and  understand  those  an- 
cient and  universal  laws  of  love  which  Christ  declared  to 
be  the  foundation  of  all  religion — "  The  Lord  our  God  is 
one  Lord.  .  .  .  Love  him  with  all  thy  heart,  and  with  all 
thy  soul,  and  with  all  thy  strength,,  and  with  all  thy  mind, 
and  love  thy  neighbor  as  thyself  This  do,  and  thou  shalt 
live."  Words  like  these  can  rouse  no  anger  or  opposition, 
and  they  will  daily  become  more  clear  and  comprehensive 
to  every  one  who  truly  takes  them  as  a  guide  and  rule  of 
life.  By  striving  earnestly  to  obey  these  simple  laws,  by 
measuring  every  thought  and  action  by  them,  women  shut 
up  in  their  harems  would  become  Christians,  though  they 
might  still  be  called  Moslems.  Then  their  daughters  would 
at  an  early  age  be  led  to  love  God  with  a  trustful  rever- 
ence., and  taught  to  contribute  to  the  happiness  of  all 
around  them.  Their  sons,  whose  hearts  and  minds  would 
naturally  be  ennobled  and  enlarged,  would  in  manhood  re- 
spect and  honor  their  early  teachers. 

Thus,  by  degrees,  women  might  be  safely  and  surely 
emancipated,  and  the  most  jealously-guarded  harems  would 
be  gradually  converted  into  enlightened  and  happy  homes. 
The  character  of  the  whole  nation  might  thus  be  changed ; 
but  any  attempt  to  exercise  an  influence  from  without,  would 
certainly  fail,  if  the  religious  prejudices  or  ancient  customs 
of  the  people  were  directly  attacked  or  condemned,  for  a 


394  DOMESTIC   LIFE   IN   PALESTINE. 

dangerous  spirit  of  antagonism  and  indignation  would  be 
immediately  roused.  All  we  can  do  is  to  try  to  excite 
Moslems  to  think  more  earnestly,  and  to  endeavor  to 
awaken  in  their  minds  the  spirit  of  truth,  by  which  they 
may  be  led  to  condemn  all  those  customs  and  practices 
which  are  at  variance  with  it,  but  which  no  mere  words  of 
ours  will  ever  induce  them  to  abandon.  Indeed,  they  will 
probably  be  adhered  to  more  obstinately  than  ever,  if  argu- 
ments be  raised  against  them.     "  Overcome  evil  with  good." 

Missionaries,  in  the  common  acceptation  of  the  word, 
would  find  it  very  difficult  to  obtain  access  to  harems.  I 
do  not  refer  to  men,  for  they,  of  course,  could  not  enter. 
I  am  thinking  of  the  persevering,  enterprising,  and  talented 
Sisters  of  Mercy — who  are  now  established  in  many  parts 
of  Syria  in  Latin  convents,  studying  Arabic — and  of  the 
devoted  wives  of  Protestant  missionaries.  But  if  they  gain 
admittance  they  will  certainly  find  that  they  will  make  no 
impression  by  teaching  creeds  or  doctrines,  or  by  trying  to 
prove  that  Christianity  is  true,  and  Islamism  is  false — that 
the  Bible  is  a  Divine  revelation,  and  the  Koran  a  forgery — 
that  Christ  is  the  Son  of  God,  and  that  Mohammed  is  an 
impostor.  This  would  not  touch  the  hearts,  nor  reach  the 
minds  of  the  matter-of-fact  Moslem  women; -but  any  one 
who  will  help  really  to  elevate  them  and  reform  their 
homes,  will  be  helping  indirectly  to  strengthen  and  confirm 
Turkey  as  a  nation,  for  the  men  will  be  more  vigorous  and 
noble-hearted  when  the  women  are  made  free. 

On  the  13th  of  December,  just  a  week  after  the  birth  of 
my  little  Miriam,  I  visited  the  harem  of  Saleh  Bek  again. 
I  found  it  crowded  with  guests,  for  it  was  one  of  the  days 
of  congratulation.  I  heard  the  sounds  of  the  tambourine 
and  the  voices  of  the  singing  women  before  I  entered. 
When  I  was  announced,  there  was  comparative  silence  for 
a  minute  or  two,  and  the  women  and  girls  made  way  for 
me,  that  I  might  approach  Helweh.  She  was  sitting  up  in 
a  cushioned  corner.  She  looked  delicate,  but  prettier  than 
ever,  and  was  very  gayly  dressed.     She  had  a  rosebud  and 


DAY  OF   CONGRATULATION.  395 

string  of  pearls  in  her  hair.  Her  eyelids  were  newly- 
dressed  with  kohl,  and  her  hands  with  henna.  There  was 
a  new  joy  in  her  face,  and  a  striking  expression  of  resolu- 
tion, earnestness,  and  tenderness,  when  she  placed  my  little 
swaddled  namesake  in  my  arms.  I  sat  down  hy  her  side. 
A  slave  rose  and  put  a  small  thin  mattress  on  my  knees, 
that  I  might  rest  the  child  on  it.* 

By  this  time  the  tambourine  sounded  again,  and  the 
chief  singer  commenced  an  impromptu  song,  having  refer- 
ence especially  to  the  fact  that  the  child  had  been  named 
by  me,  and  suggesting  that  it  was  a  happy  omen  for  the 
little  one  to  have  gained  my  love  and  protection  from  the 
moment  of  its  birth.  Then  they  sang  songs  in  my  praise, 
using  extravagant  similes,  but  so  picturesque  and  full  of 
imagery  that  I  could  not  help  thinking  of  the  Song  of 
Songs  which  is  Solomon's.  A  third  woman  sang  a  sort  of 
prayer  for  me,  or  rather  wishes  for  my  prosperity.  In  this 
song  she  forcibly  portrayed  the  Oriental  idea  of  the  highest 
happiness — the  delight  of  the  mother,  who  in  her  youth 
opens  her  eyes  upon  her  first-born  son,  and  in  her  old  age 
sees  her  children's  children  around  her.  It  was  a  passion- 
ate outpouring  of  emotion,  and  every  one  present  seemed  to 
enter  into  the  spirit  of  it.  I  do  not  suppose  that  it  was  an 
improvisation,  but  rather  an  adaptation  of  one  of  those  old 
unwritten  songs  handed  down  from  one  generation  of  singers 
to  another.  Some  dancing  followed,  and  especial  songs  were 
sung  in  praise  of  the  various  guests  as  they  arrived.  The 
room  was  close  and  warm,  and  filled  with  smoke,  for  all 
the  women  were  in  turn  supplied  with  narghiles,  and  I  was 
glad  to  go  out  into  the  fresh  air  again. 

On  Christmas  morning,  at  an  early  hour,  the  chief  Mos- 
lems of  Haifa  came  to  the  Consulate  to  greet  us,  and  wish 
us  happy  returns  of  the  "  Eid  el  Miladi^^^  that  is,  "  the 
Feast  of  the  Nativity."  About  forty  people  came  and 
staid  long   enough  to  take  cofiee  and  smoke  a  narghile  or 

*  These  nursing  mattresses  are  commonly  used,  and  are  covered  with  frilled  or 
embroidered  cases. 


396  DOMESTIC  LIFE  IN  PALESTINE. 

chibouque,  and  taste  our  preserves.  Saleh  Bek  and  Yassin 
Agha  remained  after  the  other  guests  had  left  us,  and  the 
former  told  nie  that  he  had  sent  his  wife  Helweh  and  little 
Miriam  to  Arrabeh,  for  change  of  air,  as  they  were  both 
delicate.  I  was  surprised  to  hear  that  he  had  allowed  the 
little  one  to  go  away  without  having  once  looked  at  her. 
Later  in  the  day,  after  high  mass  had  been  celebrated 
in  the  Latin  church,  we  were  visited  by  the  Christian 
population. 

On  the  2d  of  January,  1857,  Dr.  Kolle,  a  German,  ar- 
rived in  Haifa,  under  the  auspices  of  the  Church  Mission- 
ary Society,  and  I^  had  the  pleasure  of  welcoming  his 
English  wife  and  little  daughter. 

There  was  a  threat  of  excommunication  uttered  from 
the  churches  against  any  one  who  would  dare  to  let  a 
house  to  the  new  missionary.  Nevertheless,  a  good  house 
was  found,  and  his  landlord  was  heard  to  say,  "  I  shall  be 
excommunicated  for  this,  I  suppose,  but  if  so,  I  will  learn 
the  English  religion,  and  the  new  priest  will  receive  me 
into  communion."  , 

This  arrival  did  not  make  any  impression  on  the  town 
generally,  for  the  doctor  lived  a  studious  and  secluded  life. 
He  had  suffered  severely  in  Damietta  from  brain -fever,  and 
was  sent  to  Haifa  to  recruit  his  strength  and  to  learn  Ara- 
bic. He  studied  from  books  laboriously,  and  not  from  inter- 
course with  people,  so  that  the  work  was  doubly  difficult.* 

On  the  20th  of  January  my  brother  invited  all  the  best 
informed  of  the  Arabs,  without  regard  to  creed,  to  meet  at 
the  Consulate  in  the  evening,  to  make  arrangements  for 
the  formation  of  a  society  for  the  acquisition  and  diffusion 
of  useful  knowledge,  relative  to  the  arts  and  sciences,  and 
the  history  of  civilization.  The  project  was  eagerly  wel- 
comed, and  my  brotli.?r  was  elected  president.  Mons. 
Aumann,  the  French  Consul,  delivered  the  inaugural  ad- 
dress   to   a   large   assembly  on   the  following   Wednesday. 

*  Dr.  KOUe  and  his  family  left  Haifa  after  having  remained  there  about  two 
years  and  a  half. 


YASSIN  AGHA.  397 

He  spoke  energetically  of  the  powers  of  the  human  mind, 
and  the  advantages  of  study  and  scientific  research,  and 
alluded  with  great  feeling  to  the  past  history  of  the  East, 
its  grandeur,  its  scientific  attainments,  and  its  intellectual 
and  moral  influence  over  the  world  at  large. 

The  subjects  most  eagerly  studied  were,  the  elements  of 
geography,  voyages  of  discovery,  general  history,  and  the 
rise  and  progress  of  civilization  in  different  countries. 
Some  of  the  members  took  especial  interest  in  the  history 
of  the  arts  and  manufactures.  I  was  never  present  at  any 
of  these  meetings.  I  used  to  retire  to  my  room  when  the 
president  took  the  chair. 

One  evening,  when  as  usual  I  had  retreated,  and  was 
busy  writing  an  Arabic  exercise,  somebody  tapped  at  my 
door.  It  was  Yassin  Agha,  one  of  the  most  wealthy  and 
influential  Moslems  in  the  Pashalic.  (See  page  118.)  He 
apologized  for  disturbing  me,  but  said,  "  I  entreat  you  to 
allow  me  to  come  and  smoke  my  pipe  here,  that  I  may  ask 
your  counsel  and  help  in  a  great  matter."  I  welcomed  him, 
and  after  having  requested  permission  to  close  the  door, 
he  took  a  seat  and  said,  "I  have  been  greatly  wishing  to 
speak  to  you;  it  is  now  two  months  since  you  have  been  to 
my  house — why  have  you  ceased  to  come?"  I  answered, 
"  Since  the  lamented  death  of  your  wife,  there  is  in  your 
house  no  one  to  receive  me  as  a  guest,  therefore  I  no  longer 
go  there."  He  answered,  "  It  is  even  as  I  thought ;  but 
now  I  have  come  to  ask  you  to  do  me  a  great  service.  I 
wish  to  ask  your  advice  about  taking  another  wife.  I  have 
thought  of  one — you  know  her — and  I  want  you  to  tell  me 
if  she  is  good  and  if  she  is  beautiful.  She  is  the  daughter 
of  Saleh  Bek  Abdul  Hady,  and  her  name  is  Asme."  I 
answered,  "  In  all  the  country,  I  think,  there  is  not  a  girl 
more  beautiful  or  more  pleasant  than  Asm6." 

I  had  taken  her  portrait  carefully,  and  I  handed  it  to 
him.  He  was  delighted  with  it,  and  said,  gazing  at  the 
picture,  "  How  tall  is  she  ?  Does  she  speak  softly  ?  What 
is  her  age?    Does  her  mother  know  you  well?"     I  said, 


898  DOMESTIC  LIFE  IN  PALESTINE. 

"  Yes."  He  answered,  "  Then  she  must  needs  trust  you. 
Tell  her,  I  pray  you,  how  I  wish  to  have  her  daughter  for 
my  wife — tell  her  all  you  can  to  make  her  have  favorable 
thoughts  of  me — tell  her  I  have  a  beautiful  new  house — 
tell  her  that  my  wife  shall  live  like  a  princess.  If  you  do 
this  business  for  me,  I  will  be  your  slave  forever.  I  am 
fierce  to  marry  that  girl.  Speak  also  to  her  father,  Saleh 
Bek.  Call  him  here  to  play  chess  with  you,  but  do  not 
think  of  the  game ;  think  only  how  to  win  this  girl  for  me. 
Saleh  Bek  will  take  your  counsel." 

When  he  had  concluded  his  vehement  appeal,  and  began 
soothing  himself  with  his  chibouque,  I  told  him  that  I 
must  consider  before  I  could  promise  to  speak  in  his  be- 
half; but  I  undertook  to  ascertain  for  him  whether  Asm6 
had  been  already  betrothed,  or  promised.  I  knew  that  one 
of  my  Moslem  friends  had  at  one  time  thought  of  asking 
for  her,  so  I  questioned  him,  and  found  that  he  had  aban- 
doned the  project. 

Shortly  afterward  I  called  at  Saleh  Bek's  harem.  It  did 
not  seem  like  the  same  place  to  me  now  that  Helweh  and 
my  little  Miriam  had  been  sent  away.  The  senior  wife,  the 
Turkish  lady,  however,  received  me  very  kindly,  and  her 
daughters  were  gentle  and  affectionate  in  their  greetings.  I 
ascertained,  in  course  of  conversation,  that  Asm6  was  be- 
trothed to  her  young  cousin,  the  son  of  Mohammed  Bek 
Abdul  Hady,  of  Arrabeh,  and  that  the  marriage  would 
take  place  very  shortly.     The  bridegroom  was  only  sixteen. 

On  my  return  home  I  sent  for  Yassin  Agha  to  inform 
him   of  this,  that  he  might  at  once  abandon  his  project. 


ENGLISH   SOCIETY.  399 


CHAPTER   XIY. 

LAST    SCENES    IN    HAIFA. 

After  Easter,  we  frequently  enjoyed  the  society  of 
English  travelers,  who  paused  for  a  time  in  the  neighbor- 
hood, either  in  their  white  tents  among  the  trees  outside 
the  town,  or  at  the  convent  on  Mount  Carmel. 

On  the  23d  of  April,  the  beautiful  little  yacht  Sylphide 
arrived,  and  was  at  anchor  for  several  weeks  off  Haifa.  I 
spent  some  delightful  hours  on  board.  Captain  Leyland, 
who  was  then  the  owner,  had  truly  made  this  yacht  a  home 
upon  tBe  waters,  for  he  was  accompanied  by  his  wife,  his 
daughter,  with  her  governess,  his  son,  with  a  tutor,  and  by 
Dr.  Antony,  a  physician  and  amateur  photographer. 

Sunday,  the  24th  of  May,  was  the  first  day  of  the  great 
Moslem  feast  of  Bairam,  which  follows  the  long  and  fa- 
tiguing fast  of  Ramadan.  The  little  town  of  Haifa  was,  in 
consequence,  unusually  gay.  All  the  people  were  dressed 
in  their  best,  and  the  yacht  Sylphide^  and  Her  Majesty's 
ship  Desperate^  a  man-of-war,  then  in  port,  were  decked 
with  flags  and  streamers.  'Akka  looked  as  if  it  were  being 
besieged  again,  as  the  guns  of  salute  flashed  from  the  ram- 
parts in  quick  succession,  enveloped  the  city  in  clouds  of 
smoke   and  boomed  heavily  across  the  bay. 

On  Thursday,  11th  of  June,  there  was  a  grand  ecclesi- 
astical procession,  in  honor  of  the  fete  of  "  Corpus  Domini." 
The  monks  and  priests  of  Mount  Carmel,  and  nearly  all 
the  Consuls,  assisted  in  the  ceremony.  The  Moslems  did 
not  offer  the  slightest  opposition  to  the  display,  although 
there  had  never  before  been  such  a  demonstration  in  Haifa. 
My  brother  was  requested  to  raise  the  English  flag  on  the 
occasion,  and  to  allow  his  kawasses,  who  were  Moslems^  to 


400  DOMESTIC    LIFE   IN  PALESTINE. 

walk  before  the  priests,  to  clear  and  lead  the  way,  in  com- 
pany with  the  kawasses  attached  to  the  other  European 
Consulates.  This  he  politely  but  firmly  declined  to  do. 
His  refusal  was  taken  in  a  good  spirit,  and  the  request  was 
not  repeated. 

In  the  afternoon  we  rode  along  the  sands,  roun(^  the  bay, 
to  'Akka,  and  thence  to  the  "  Bahjeh,"  that  is,  "  Tlie  Gar- 
den of  Delight^''  about  twenty  minutes  beyond  the  city.  It 
is  one  of  the  prettiest  places  in  the  Pashalic.  It  was 
formerly  the  harem  of  Abdallah  Pasha,  who  employed 
Greek  and  Italian  artists  to  carry  out  his  ideas  of  comfort 
and  splendor. 

The  place  is  now  the  property  of  Mr.  Girgius  Giammal. 
He  and  his  family  occupy  the  large  villa,  built  in  the 
Italian  style,  which  stands  in  the  midst  of  the  garden, 
where  cypresses  and  pines  rise  above  the  fragrant  orange 
and  lemon  trees  and  acacias,  and  where  all  kinds  of  pleas- 
ant fruits  and  sweet  flowers  abound.  I  had  met  the  ladies 
of  this  family  first  at  Yafa,  and  had  visited  them  at  their 
town  house  in  'Akka.  The  gentlemen  had  often  been  with 
us  at  Haifa,  and  had  repeatedly  invited  me  to  the  "Bah- 
jeh ;"  so  my  brother  left  me  there,  while  he  made  a  tour 
in  the  interior,  which  had  recently  been  disturbed  by  civil 
war. 

Arabs  who  have  associated  much  with  Europeans,  and 
who  have  obtained  a  slight  European  education,  very  often 
adopt  European  costumes  and  customs,  and  seem  ashamed 
of  their  own ;  but  this  was  not  the  case  with  Mr.  Giammal's 
family,  and  though  several  members  of  it  were  pretty  well 
acquainted  with  English,  they  had  scarcely  abandoned  any 
of  the  Oriental  fashions,  either  as  regards  dress  or  manners. 
Furrah,  the  youngest  sister  of  Girgius,  had  been  educated 
by  the  American  missionaries,  at  Beirut.  She  spoke  En- 
glish freely,  with  fanciful  Oriental  idioms  and  expressions, 
which  gave  a  charm  to  every  thing  she  said.  She  was  one 
of  the  very  few  native  girls  I  knew  who  could  read  and 
write  Arabic.     She  was  betrothed  to  a  studious  and  excel- 


401 

lent  man,  an  Arab,  who  at  that  time  lived  at  Haifa.  He 
could  speak  no  language  except  his  own,  but  he  knew  that 
thoroughly,  and  my  young  friend  enjoyed  the  unusual  ad- 
vantage of  being  able  to  correspond  with  him  without  the 
aid  of  a  secretary. 

One  afternoon,  as  I  was  walking  with  her  in  the  garden 
of  roses,  she  showed  me  a  little  poem  he  had  written  to 
her,  in  the  form  of  a  letter,  in  which  he  complained  of 
not  having  heard  from  her  for  several  days. 

Furrah  is  a  happy  wife  and  mother  now,  and  I  think 
that  she  will  forgive  me  if  I  chronicle  here  a  translation 
of  the  letter,  which  made  her  face  look  so  bright  on  that 
17th  of  June.  I  wrote  it  down  in  my  note-book,  as  lit- 
erally as  I  could,  after  she  had  kindly  read  it  to  me  in 
Arabic  two  or  three  times,  carefully  explaining  in  English 
the  meaning  of  every  word  which  I  did  not  understand. 
(Do  n't  be  angry,  Furrah !)  The  letter  was  dated  Haifa, 
June  15,  1857 : 

"  0  my  heart — ^where  art  thou  ? 
Be  still,  0  my  heart ;  have  patience  in  thy  sorrow. 

Behold,  God  gave  patience  unto  Job ! 
I  call  to  her,  but  she  is  silent ; 
I  speak,  but  she  does  not  hear. 

Why  are  my  words  unanswered  ? 
If  they  will  not  suffer  her  to  write, 
Let  her  go  down  to  the  garden  of  roses, 

And  whisper  her  love  to  the  fragrant  air. 
I  sit  under  the  palm-trees. 
And  the  air  will  bring  me  her  love. 

The  Palm-tree  listens  for  the  Bose-bud ! 
I  sat  under  the  palm-tree, 
But  no  soft  wind  brought  me  her  love. 

Why  does  her  love  refuse  to  meet  mine  ? 
My  love  is  great :  if  she  saw  my  suffering 
She  would  have  pity !     Her  extreme  gentleness 

CJould  not  give  me  such  pain  I 
Great  is  my  love !    If  my  love  were  in  the  Sakhara, 
The  great  and  wonderful  rock  the  Sakhara, 

It  would  be  broken  into  a  thousand  pieces. 
Great  is  my  love  I    If  my  love  were  in  the  great  mountain, 
The  great  mountain  of  Petra, 

It  would  be  moved. 
Great  is  my  love !    If  my  love  were  in  the  sun, 
The  sun,  the  sun  at  noonday. 

Her  face  would  be  darkened. 
34 


402  DOMESTIC  LIFE  IN  PALESTINE. 

Great  is  my  lore  I    When  shall  my  heart  rejoice 
With  thee,  0  my  '  Furrah  ?' 
.« Furrah,*  my  '  true  joy  /'  " 

"  Furrah "  is  the  Arabic  word  for  "Joy,"  and  it  was 
the  name  of  the  young  girl  to  whom  this  poem  was  ad- 
dressed. 

The  Sakhara  referred  to,  is  the  grieat  rock  at  Jerusa- 
lem on  Mount  *Moriah,  and  the  beautiful  dome  above  it, 
"  Kubbet  es  Sakhara,"  "  the  Dome  of  the  Rock^"  is  almost 
always  mistaken  by  travelers  for  the  Mosque  of  Omar, 
which  is  in  fact  a  comparatively  insignificant  building. 
The  Arabs  speak  of  the  sun  in  the  feminine,  and  of  the 
moon  in  the  masculine  gender.  There  was  a  stanza  about 
the  moon  in  the  poem,  but  I  did  not  note  it  down  at  the 
time,  and  I  do  not  remember  it  now. 

In  Mr.  Giammal's  service  there  were  several  pleasant, 
good-natured  Abyssinian  girls.  They  looked  very  pic- 
turesque in  their  holiday  dresses  made  of  scarlet  woolen 
stuff,  with  silver  necklaces  and  anklets,  and  glass  bracelets, 
with  red  tarbushes  and  bright-colored  muslin  kerchiefs  fan- 
cifully arranged  on  their  heads. 

One  day  there  was  great  rejoicing  among  them,  and  cries 
of  congratulation  echoed  through  the  house.  I  inquired 
the  cause.  I  found  that  a  young  slave  girl,  who  had  been 
hired  by  Mr.  Giammal,  had  just  been  set  free.  She  was 
the  property  of  an  Arab  widow  lady  who  resided  at  'Akka. 
This  lady  had  just  arrived  at  the  "  Bahjeh,"  and  had  given 
freedom  to  her  slave,  and  told  her  that  she  had  made  a 
will  in  her  favor. 

The  poor  girl  was  at  first  quite  overcome  with  delight 
and  wonder,  but  on  reflection  she  seemed  almost  to  tremble 
at  the  loneliness  and  responsibility  of  her  new  position. 
She  asked  her  mistress  if  she  could  love  her  always  just  as 
much  as  she  had  loved  her  before,  and  said,  "  I  would 
rather  keep  your  love  than  gain  my  freedom."  The  lady 
explained  that  she  was  growing  old,  and  could  not  live 
long   to  watch   over   her,    and   it  was  the  thought  of  ap- 


PREPARATIONS   TO  LEAVE.  403 

proaehing  death  whicli  had  caused  her  to  decide  to  give 
her  youDg  slave  freedom. 

Furrah  told  me  that  when  this  girl  had  been  ill  with 
fever  in  the  Spring  of  the  year,  her  owner  came  from 
'Akka,  and  sat  up  two  nights  by  her  bedside,  and  did  not 
leave  her  till  she  had  recovered. 

The  girl  still  remained  in  Mr.  Giammal's  service.  The 
only  change  in  her  position  was  that  her  wages  were  to  be 
paid  to  her,  instead  of  to  her  late  owner.  I  questioned  the 
girl  a  day  or  two  afterward,  as  to  how  she  felt.  She  said, 
"  I  am  free  and  I  am  very  glad-hearted,  but  I  do  not  know 
what  it  is  that  makes  me  so  glad.  I  am  the  same  one  that 
I  was  before,  and  I  work  and  live  as  I  lived  before,  but 
every  body  says  it  is  better  to  be  free." 

Late  on  Friday  night,  the  19th  of  June,  my  brother 
arrived  and  told  me  that  we  must  return  to  Haifa  as  early 
as  possible  on  the  following  morning,  and  start  for  Beirut 
by  the  next  steamer,  for  he  had  been  appointed  to  take 
charge  of  the  Vice  Consulate  there  for  a  few  months,  as 
Mr.  Moore  was  about  to  visit  England. 

A  busy  fortnight  followed,  the  last  few  days  of  which 
were  spent  in  taking  leave  of  my  friends  at  Haifa,  many 
of  whom  I  never  saw  again. 

At  half-past  four  on  the  morning  of  the  4th  of  July,  a 
large  number  of  people,  Jews,  Christians,  and  Moslems, 
walked  down  to  the  rocky  landing-place  with  us,  and 
watched  us  as  we  went  swiftly  over  the  waters  in  a  little 
Arab  boat,  on  our  way  to  the  Austrian  steamer.  We  were 
accompanied  by  the  French  Consul  and  Mohammed  Bek, 
who  went  on  board,  and  remained  with  us  till  the  last 
moment. 

While  my  brother's  duties  detained  him  in  Beirut,  I  had 
the  opportunity  of  visiting  the  Lebanon,  and  becoming  ac- 
quainted with  the  history  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  mount- 
ains— the  Druses  and  the  Maronites.  My  brother  helped 
me  to  understand  the  complicated  and  threatening  aspect 
of  aflFairs,  for  he  could  even    then   foresee   how,  sooner  or 


404  DOMESTIC   LIFE  IN  PALESTINE. 

later,  the  mountaiDS  would  become  the  scene  of  civil  war — • 
but  of  these  things  I  will  not  speak  here. 

We  did  not  return  to  Palestine  till  the  following  No- 
vember. We  steamed  into  the  Bay  of  'Akka  at  sunrise, 
and  with  pleasure  saw  again  the  range  of  Carmel,  and  the 
white  convent,  every  window  of  which  dazzlingly  reflected 
the  light  of  the  morning  sun.  We  were  soon  lowered  into 
a  little  Arab  boat,  and  the  dusky  palm-groves,  the  flour- 
ishing fruit-gardens,  and  the  town  of  Haifa,  seemed  to  rise 
Tip  by  magic  out  of  the  sea  to  receive  us  as  we  rapidly 
approached  the  shore.  How  glad  I  was  to  land  there  again, 
and  still  more  glad  to  see  the  well-remembered  faces  of  my 
friends,  and  to  hear  their  hearty  words  of  welcome  spoken 
in  many  tongues! 

But  there  were  many  changes  in  the  place — deaths, 
births,  marriages,  arrivals,  and  departures — old  houses 
pulled  down,  and  new  ones  built  up.  Saleh  Bek  Abdul 
Hady,  with  whom  I  used  to  play  at  chess,  had  gone  with 
his  family  to  settle  at  Arrabeh,  and  I  heard  with  deep 
regret  that  his  child,  my  little  namesake  Miriam,  and  her 
mother,  my  friend  Helweh,  were  both  dead.  The  child 
had  died  first,  and  the  mother  shortly  afterward.  Two  of 
Saleh  Bek's  sons  were  at  the  French  College  at  Antura, 
near  Beirfit. 

One  of  our  neighbors,  Signor  Luis  Catafago,  a  widower, 
was  the  wealthiest  and  most  influential  of  the  Christian 
Arabs  of  Haifa,  and  more  learned  in  Arabic  literature  than 
any  one  in  the  Pashalic.  He  was  well  acquainted  with 
Italian  and  French,  and  lived  in  Semi-European  style.  His 
sons  were  brought  up  at  college,  and  dressed  like  Euro- 
peans, though  his  little  girls  were  quite  Oriental.  He  had 
married  a  second  wife  during  our  absence.  She  was  a  na- 
tive of  Damascus.  The  fame  of  her  beauty  and  gentleness 
had  gone  forth  throughout  the  land.  Signor  Luis  determ- 
ined to  try  to  win  her,  so  he  journeyed  to  Damascus, 
carrying  with  him  offerings  of  rich  silks  from  the  looms  of 
Lyons — wrought  with  gold — strings  of  pearls,  and  sprays 


LEBIBEH.  405 

of  diamonds.  He  succeeded  in  his  suit,  and  brought  home 
his  bride  Lebibeh  in  triumph,  to  grace  the  largest  establish- 
ment in  Haifa.  The  bridegroom  was  above  sixty,  and  the 
bride  about  sixteen  years  of  age.  She  had  never  had  any 
intercourse  with  European  or  even  semi-European  society, 
but  with  natural  grace  she  accustomed  herself  to  her  new 
life  and  her  new  home. 

I  frequently  visited  her.  She  was  the  most  perfect 
type  I  had  met  with  of  the  truly-Oriental  Christian  female 
aristocracy,  quite  untinged  by  European  innovations.  Mos- 
lem female  aristocracy  is  of  a  very  different  and  far  in- 
ferior order.  It  is  comparatively  barbarous  in  luxury  and 
splendor. 

The  face  of  the  bride  pleased  me  exceedingly.  It  was  a 
pure  oval,  and  of  that  creamy,  golden  complexion,  which 
looked  almost  fair,  relieved  as  it  was  by  glossy-black  braids, 
long,  dark  lashes,  and  violet  eyes.  Her  mouth  was  small 
and  well  formed.  It  is  very  unusual  to  see  a  refined-look- 
ing mouth  among  the  Arab  women.  Girls  often  have 
prettily-shaped  lips,  but  they  almost  invariably  change  in 
form  and  character  in  womanhood. 

The  first  time  I  called  on  Lebibeh  it  was  on  a  Christian 
fUe  day.  She  was  dressed  in  modern  Damascus  style.  Her 
trowsers  were  long  and  very  full,  made  of  bright  rose-col- 
ored silk,  with  a  narrow  pattern  wrought  in  gold  down 
each  side  Her  jacket,  which  was  short,  made  with  tight 
sleeves,  was  of  violet-silk  velvet,  richly  embroidered,  and 
quite  open  in  front,  exposing  a  Tilac-crape  shirt,  which 
scarcely  concealed  her  bosom.  Round  the  neck  and  down 
the  front  of  this  shirt,  a  sentence,  invoking  a  blessing  on 
the  wearer,  was  worked  in  Arabic  characters,  with  fine  gold 
thread,  forming  a  rich  ornamental  border  of  about  two 
inches  wide.  She  wore  a  necklace  of  very  large  Oriental 
pearls,  with  a  diamond  cross  hanging  from  it.  Her  black 
hair  was  parted  on  one  side,  and  divided  into  fourteen  long, 
straight,  Grecian  plaits.  Each  plait  was  neatly  intertwined, 
and  plaited  with  thick,  black-silk  braid  to  add  to  its  weight 


406  DOMESTIC   LIFE   IN   PALESTINE. 

and  length.  The  ends  of  the  braid  were  finished  off  with 
little  pendants  of  pearls  and  gold. 

Her  head-dress  consisted  simply  of  a  small  piece  of  lilac 
crape  tastefully  arranged,  and  secured  with  sprays  of  dia- 
monds and  emeralds,  and  one  rosebud.  Round  her  waist 
she  wore  a  fine  white-muslin  shawl,  embroidered  with  gold. 
She  showed  me  her  trousseau  and  her  needlework.  She 
was  very  skillful  in  all  kinds  of  embroidery,  and  designed 
and  drew  her  patterns  herself  with  taste  and  precision.  She 
used  a  tambour-frame,  or  stretcher,  fixed  to  a  stand,  and 
very  prettily  made  of  dark  wood,  inlaid  with  mother-of-pearl 
and  ivory.  On  ordinary  days  she  wore  French  muslins  or 
Manchester  prints,  but  she  invariably  looked  nice,  and  gen- 
erally had  a  flower  in  her  head-dress,  either  a  rose,  a  pink, 
or  a  bunch  of  everlastings. 

I  almost  always  found  her  in  her  private  room,  seated  on 
cushions  on  the  floor,  with  her  embroidery -frame  before 
her,  and  her  youngest  step-daughter,  Carmella,  a  beautiful 
child  of  about  three  years  of  age,  rolling  on  the  divan  by 
her  side.  The  child  was  always  attended  by  a  laughing, 
merry-looking  African  slave-girl,  gayly  dressed  in  yellow  or 
crimson,  with  gold  coins  round  her  neck,  large  rings — each 
one  a  potent  protector  from  magic — on  her  fingers,  bracelets 
of  glass  on  her  black,  bony  arms,  and  tinkling  ornaments 
round  her  ankles.  She  wore  at  the  back  of  her  head  a 
shallow,  red-cloth  tarbush,  with  a  long  blue-silk  tassel,  se- 
cured by  a  gilt  crescent. 

On  the  side  of  her  broad  nose  a  fine  turquoise  appeared. 
It  was  set  in  silver,  and)  formed  the  head  of  a  short,  thick, 
blunt,  silver  nail,  which  was  fixed  in  a  hole  made  for  the 
purpose  in  the  wing  of  her  nose.* 

This  girl  always  greeted  me  with  some  droll  speech,  and 
invented   stories  and   tales  unceasingly,  to  amuse  the  chil- 

*  This  is  a  common  custom,  and  I  have  frequently  seen  poor  girls  insert  cloves, 
instead  of  jewels,  into  these  holes.  An  artificial  clove  made  of  gold,  clasping  a 
pearl,  which  forms  the  round  part  at  the  top,  is  a  very  favorite  nose-jewel.  These 
ncMK-naiU  are  worn  by  the  younger  girls,  and  are  very  fashionable ;  the  elder  women 
wear  rings  instead. 


WOMEN    OF  DAMASCUS.  407 

dren.  She  greatly  admired  her  young  mistress,  and  seemed 
to  regard  her  as  her  especial  property — as  something  very 
precious,  which  she  delighted  to  caress,  to  embellish,  and 
to  protect. 

Sit  Lebibeh  could  speak  no  language  but  Arabic,  and 
could  not  read  ;  but  she  was  thoughtful,  shrewd,  and  witty, 
and  I  always  enjoyed  her  society.  She  was  a  member  of 
the  Latin  Church. 

After  she  had  been  in  Haifa  about  one  year,  she  said  to 
me,  "  My  sister,  you  must  not  form  an  opinion  of  the  char- 
acter and  customs  of  Arab  women  generally,  from  what 
you  see  of  them  here  and  in  this  neighborhood,  for  in  my 
city,  Damascus,  and  in  Aleppo,  they  are  much  more  civil- 
ized, although  not  Europeanized  in  the  least  degree.  Here 
I  find  no  companions  like  those  I  left  in  Damascus.  Here 
nearly  all  the  Arab  women,  both  Christians  and  Moslems, 
live  like  peasants,  and  are  very  ignorant.  They  tattoo  and 
paint  themselves  barbarously.  They  wear  heavy  silver 
head-ornaments,  which  are  only  fit  to  put  upon  the  heads 
of  horses.  They  do  not  keep  their  houses,  themselves,  or 
their  children  clean.  I  can  not  associate  with  them ;  while 
the  few  who  have  had  the  opportunity  of  learning  some 
European  language,  and  have  married  into  European  or 
semi-European  families,  have  almost  ceased  to  be  Arabs. 
They  prefer  Italian  or  French  to  the  language  which 
their  mothers  taught  them ;  so  from  them  also  I  feel 
separated." 

But  there  was  happiness  in  store  for  Lebibeh.  A  little 
while  afterward  her  mother  came  from  Damascus  to  stay 
with  her,  to  help  her  to  nurse  her  first-born  son  Yusef. 
When  I  paid  the  visit  of  congratulation,  I  found  the  young 
mother  almost  silent  with  delight,  but  the  grandmother 
was  eloquent  in  praise  of  the  little  swaddled  boy,  asleep  in 
a  swing-cradle  made  of  walnut-wood,  inlaid  with  ivory  and 
mother-of-pearl,  and  curtained  with  fine  muslin.  The  cov- 
ering of  the  cradle  was  purple  velvet,  embroidered  with 
gold   thread.      Lebibeh   looked   very   pretty  in  her   long, 


408  DOMESTIC   LIFE   IN   PALESTINE. 

blue-cloth  pelisse,  lined  and  edged  with  light  fur,  and  she 
smiled  brightly  when  she  heard  herself  called,  "Um  Yu- 
sef" — the  Mother  of  Joseph.     "Peace  be  upon  her!" 

New-Year's  day  was  as  usual  a  general  holiday;  visits 
and  good  wishes  were  being  exchanged  from  early  morning 
till  sunset.  On  the  first  New- Year's  day  which  I  passed 
in  Syria,  I  was  surprised  to  hear  our  servants,  and  the 
servants  of  our  neighbors,  and  all  the  Arabs  of  the  poorer 
classes,  greet  us  with  the  word  "Bastrina!"  I  found  it 
was  a  common  custom  on  the  coast,  and  a  present  of  a  few 
piasters  is  always  expected  by  the  person  who  pronounces 
the  word,  and  this  is  rarely  refused.  The  custom  is  rather 
a  tax  upon  people  who  hold  a  prominent  position  in  Le- 
vantine towns. 

I  could  not  guess  the  origin  of  the  custom,  or  the  mean- 
ing of  the  word.  The  Arabs  said,  "Allah  knows  where 
the  word  came  from;  it  is  very  ancient,  but  it  certainly  is 
not  genuine  Arabic."  I  inquired  among  the  Europeans, 
but  they  threw  no  light  on  the  subject.  But  an  "  Essay 
on  the  Fine  Arts,"  by  E.  L.  Tarbuck,  led  me  to  believe 
that  this  custom  is  a  relic  of  pagan  worship,  and  that  the 
word  "Bastrina"  refers  to  the  oiFerings  which  used  to  be 
made  to  the  goddess  Strenia.  We  could  hardly  expect 
that  the  pagans  who  embraced  Christianity  could  altogether 
abandon  their  former  creeds  and  customs.  Macaulay  says, 
"Christianity  conquered  paganism,  but  paganism  infected 
Christianity ;  the  rites  of  the  Pantheon  passed  into  her 
worship,  and  the  subtilties  of  the  Academy  into  her 
creed."  Many  pagan  customs  were  adopted  by  the  new 
Church.  T.  Hope,  in  his  "Essay  on  Architecture,"  says: 
"  The  Saturnalia  were  continued  in  the  Carnival,  and  the 
festival  with  ofi"erings  to  the  goddess  Strenia  was  continued 
in  that  of  the  New  Year,  with  the  gifts  called  in  France 
itrennes;'^  to  this  I  may  add,  that  on  the  coast  of  Syria 
they  are  called  "  Bastrina."  The  prefix  "  Ba,"  in  Arabic 
signifies  "on  account  of" — "for  the  sake  of" — "for" — 
"  by." 


DRUSE   VILLAGE.  409 

In  April  ws  visited  Nazareth  and  its  neighborhood  with 
Mr.  J.  Lewis  Farley,  who  has  given  an  account  of  the  trip 
in  his  work  on  Syria. 

In  July  we  went  up  to  Esfia,  a  Druse  village  in  the 
Carmel  Range.  I  remained  there  for  a  short  time,  to  enjoy 
the  cool,  fresh,  mountain  air,  and  was  very  kindly  enter- 
tained by  the  people.  I  had  excellent  opportunities  of  be- 
coming acquainted  with  their  peculiarities  and  modes  of 
life;  but  I  hope  to  speak  of  these  villages  minutely  on 
some  future  occasion,  in  connection  with  their  coreligionists 
in  the  Lebanon  and  in  the  Hauran. 

In  August  my  brother  went  to  Jerusalem,  expecting  to 
return  in  about  a  week,  but  he  was  detained  on  official 
business.  I  remained  alone  in  Haifa,  and,  as  he  had  al- 
ways allowed  me  to  understand  his  pursuits  and  the  prin- 
ciples which  guided  him  in  all  his  proceedings,  I  had  the 
pleasure  of  being  able,  during  his  absence,  to  act  as  his 
agent  in  most  of  his  affairs.  Responsibility  and  plenty  of 
work  prevented  me  from  feeling  either  dull,  lonely,  or  timid. 
I  am  glad  to  be  able  to  testify  to  the  respectful  kindness 
and  good  feeling  shown  to  me  by  the  Arabs,  both  Christian 
and  Moslem,  and  to  the  courtesy  and  friendliness  of  the 
Europeans,  while  I  was  thus  alone. 

In  November  I  went  up  to  Jerusalem,  and  spent  the 
Winter  season  there,  at  the  English  Hotel.  It  was  a  sad 
season  for  us;  the  Rev.  J.  Nicolayson  was  dead.  Miss 
Creasy  had  been  cruelly  murdered,  my  friends  at  the  Con- 
sulate were  hopelessly  watching  over  a  suffering  child, 
whose  death  they  had  to  mourn  before  the  close  of  the 
year.  My  brother  was  attacked  by  an  alarming  and  dan- 
gerous fever,  and  in  his  delirium  he  was  constantly  taking 
leave  of  me,  telling  me  that  he  was  "dead,"  and  could  not 
rest  till  he  knew  that  I  was  safe  at  home  in  England.  But 
these  dreadful  days  and  nights  passed  away,  and,  thanks  to 
the  untiring  attention  and  careful  treatment  of  Dr.  Edward 
Atkinson,  the  ^  fever  was  subdued,  and  the  new  year  com' 
menced  auspiciously  for  us. 

35 


410  DOMESTIC    LIFE   IN  PALESTINE. 

I  was  surprised  at  the  severity  of  the  cold  in  Jerusalem. 
Twice  I  saw  the  city  shrouded  with  snow,  but  the  sun  soon 
melted  it  away,  leaving  only  white,  fleecy  wreaths  on  the 
northern  sides  of  the  domes  and  cupolas.  There  were  a 
great  many  new  buildings  in  course  of  erection  outside  the 
city.  Large  plots  of  laud  had  been  purchased  by  Russia,* 
France,  and  Austria,  and  foreign  schools,  hospices,  and 
other  institutions  were  being  established. 

Our  friend,  Kamil  Pasha,  was  no  longer  there.  Surreya 
Pasha  had  succeeded  him.  He  was  a  man  of  an  entirely- 
difl'erent  character.  He  had  not  so  much  sympathy  with 
the  Europeans.  He  was  a  strict  Moslem,  and  kept  the 
mosque  and  all  the  holy  places  religiously  closed  against 
unbelievers,  and  fostered  a  spirit  of  fanaticism.  It  was  ac- 
knowledged, however,  that  he  was  in  many  respects  a  clever 
ruler,  and  an  energetic  and  vigilant  disciplinarian.  It  was 
said  that  he  never  took  bribes^  but  caused  the  taxes  to  be 
regularly  enforced.  They  had  been  neglected  by  some  of 
his  predecessors,  on  the  principle  that  it  is  easier  to  take 
bribes  than  to  collect  taxes. 

To  facilitate  the  taxation  of  the  citizens  of  Jerusalem,  he 
had  caused  all  the  houses  to  be  numbered,  and  large  Arabic 
numerals  now  appeared  on  the  doors.  There  was  no  divi- 
sion into  streets  or  quarters,  as  in  European  cities,  but  the 
figures,  commencing  with  units,  rose  up  to  hundreds,  till 
every  dwelling,  however  obscure,  had  its  especial  mark. 
Then  a  careful  record  was  made  of  the  names  of  the  owners 

*  "  Masons  and  builders  are  busy  on  the  Mcidan — the  plain  on  the  north  side  of 
Jerusalem.  A  portion  of  it,  belonging  to  Russia,  containing  10,000  square  yard^, 
has  been  inclosed  by  a  stone  wall.  Several  houses  have  been  built  there,  and  four 
large  tanks  constructed  for  the  supply  of  water. 

'•  A  cathedral,  dedicated  to  the  '  Holy  Trinity,'  has  sprung  up  as  if  by  magic, 
and  is  now  ready  to  receive  its  cupolas.  A  large  house  for  the  Kussian  Ecclesias- 
tical Mission  is  nearly  completed.  A  hospital  to  receive  ten  beds  has  reached  the 
first  floor;  the  next  story  will  be  finished  during  this  year.  Foundations  are  laid 
for  an  asylum  capable  of  receiving  300  male  pilgrims. 

•'  Inside  the  city,  the  ground  belonging  to  Itussia,  near  to  the  Holy  Sepulcher, 
has  been  cleared  of  the  rubbish  which  formerly  covered  it  to  the  hight  of  35  feet. 
During  the  excavations,  pillars  and  porticoes  of  the  time  of  Constantino  were  dis- 
covered. Before  the  end  of  this  year  an  asylum  for  llussian  female  pilgrims  will 
be  commenced." — Jerusalem,  Angtiat,  1862. 


NUMBERING    THE   HOUSES.  411 

and  inmates.  This  was  quite  a  novelty,  and  I  was  told 
that  modern  Jerusalem  had  never  before  been  systematically 
numbered.  The  lower  classes  of  Arabs  regarded  it  as  un- 
lucky, and  were  strongly  prejudiced  against  it — others 
spoke  of  it  as  a  very  tyrannical  proceeding.  Isaiah,  in  22d 
chapter  and  10th  verse,  says  reproachfully,  "  Ye  have  num- 
bered the  houses  of  Jerusalem." 

We  left  the  Holy  City  in  January,  and  rode  over  the 
hills  of  Judea,  and  across  the  plain  of  Philistia,  many 
parts  of  which  were  dangerous  to  pass  through,  for  the 
water  rested  in  large  lagoons,  and  the  earth  was  swampy; 
but  our  guide  knew  the  road  well,  and  we  reached  Yafa  in 
safety,  and  in  time  for  a  Russian  steamer  which  conveyed 
us  to  Haifa. 

Our  little  town  was  rising  rapidly  in  importance;  many 
large  houses  had  been  built  during  the  year,  and  outside 
the  western  wall  a  hamlet  was  springing  up,  which  was 
called  by  the  Europeans  the  Faubourg  of  Mount  Carmel. 
A  handsome  church  with  a  large  cupola  had  just  been 
completed  for  the  Greek  Catholic  or  Melchite  congre- 
gation. 

The  Russian  Government  had  obtained  a  firman,  which 
granted  them  permission  to  make  a  jetty  at  Haifa,  and 
Signor  Pierotti,  an  architect  and  engineer  in  the  Russian 
service,  formerly  Captain  of  Engineers  in  the  Sardinian 
army,  came  to  superintend  the  work,  which  gave  employ- 
ment to  a  large  number  of  people,  and  created  a  great  deal 
of  animation  in  the  place.  The  jetty  was  made  of  wood, 
and  cost  the  Russian  Government  upward  of  three  thousand 
pounds.  There  is  not  another  such  landing-place  on  the 
coast  of  Syria.  It  was  freely  used  by  all  people,  and  no 
tax  or  toll  of  any  kind  was  imposed. 

A  hospice  adjoining  the  Greek  Church  was  in  the  mean 
time  erected.  When  these  were  finished,  Signor  Pierotti 
went  to  Nazareth  to  superintend  architectural  works  for 
the  Greek  church  there.  He  is  now  architect  to  the  Pasha 
of  Jerusalem. 


412  DOMESTIC   LIFE   IN   PALESTINE. 

When  I  inquired,  "Why  has  the  Russian  Government 
gone  to  the  expense  of  building  a  jetty  and  a  hospice  here 
and  another  hospice  at  Nazareth?"  Russian  employes  and 
seemingly-satisfied  Turks  invariably  answered,  "  It  is  for 
the  benefit  of  Greek  pilgrims,  who  come  every  year  in 
great  numbers  to  visit  the  holy  places."  But  there  were 
Europeans  who  shrugged  their  shoulders  suspiciously,  and 
said,  "Perhaps  this  jetty  is  only  built  for  the  devotees  of 
the  Greek  Church,  but  it  would  certainly,  nevertheless, 
facilitate  the  landing  of  troops.  Perhaps  the  hospices  are 
only  erected  to  shelter  pilgrims,  but  they  would,  for  all 
that,  make  excellent  barracks."  The  generality  of  the 
Arabs  were  quite  satisfied,  and  said,  "  God  is  bountiful !" 
and,  "The  Franjis  have  long  purses."  Others  said,  "God 
knows  what  these  things  portend!"  and  then  they  silently 
smoked  their  pipes. 

Russian  influence  was  increasing  every-where.  A  line 
of  Government  steamers  had  been  established  on  the  coast 
of  Syria,  and  they  called  at  Haifa  twice  a  week.  We  thus 
frequently  came  into  contact  with  Russian  captains  and 
ofiicers,  and  found  them  agreeable,  well-educated,  and  lib- 
eral-minded men.  Throughout  the  country  Russia  was 
well  represented,  and  the  consuls  are  almost  invariably 
excellent  linguists  and  independent  of  native  interpreters. 
They  thus  avoid  all  those  disputes  and  misunderstandings 
which  arise  out  of  the  intrigues  or  the  blunders  of  consular 
dragomen. 

The  Emperor  of  Russia  had  agents  at  work,  eagerly  in- 
vestigating the  ancient  literary  stores  of  Syria.  For  him 
the  monasteries  have  been  ransacked,  and  early  manuscripts 
of  the  Gospels  and  of  the  Epistles  have  been  brought  to 
light.  Through  private  Russian  enterprise  the  Samaritans 
have  been  induced  to  part  with  some  valuable  MS.  copies 
of  the  Pentateuch.  Of  one  of  these  MSS.  a  fS,c-simile  has 
been  made,  and  it  is  now — 1861 — being  multiplied  by 
means  of  lithography  at  Jerusalem,  by  Dr.  Levisohn,  who 
has  devoted  himself  for  some  time  to  the  study  of  Samar- 


SAMARITAN  PENTATEUCH.  413 

itan  literature.  He  can  read  this  ancient  and  rarely-ac- 
quired language  as  easily  as  Priest  Amran  the  Levite  can. 
Russian  gold  has  been  freely  spent  in  the  prosecution  of 
such  works  as  these — works  of  world-wide  interest,  and  by 
which  all  the  public  libraries  of  Europe  will  be  enriched. 
Dr.  Levisohn  will  no  doubt  eventually  publish  the  discov- 
eries he  has  made  of  certain  variations  in  the  Samaritan 
and  Hebrew  versions  of  the  Laws  of  Moses,  which  have 
not  yet  been  noticed  by  commentators.* 

In  March,  orders  were  issued  for  the  thorough  cleansing 
and  sweeping  of  the  chief  streets  of  Haifa,  that  they  might 
be  in  a  fit  state  to  receive  His  Royal  Highness  Prince 
Alfred,  who  had  landed  at  YS,fa  and  gone  thence  to  Jeru- 
salem, Hebron,  and  to  the  Dead  Sea,  or  "Bahr  Lutt,"  that 
is,  the  Sea  of  Lot.  He  was  journeying  through  the  interior 
toward  Haifa  to  meet  his  ship,  the  Euryalus,  which  had 
been  in  port  for  several  days.  The  Pasha  of  'Akka  ordered 
all  subordinate  officers  to  hold  themselves  in  readiness  to 
go  out  with  him  to  welcome  the  royal  sailor-boy,  who  came 
from  Tiberias  by  way  of  Shefa  'Amer,  and  arrived  at  Haifa 
before  sunset  on  the  4th  of  April — 1859 — with  the  com- 
mander and  some  of  the  chief  officers  of  the  Euryalus, 
attended  by  Mr.  Finn,  Her  Britannic  Majesty's  Consul,  and 
my  brother. 

The  young  Prince  made  a  very  favorable  impression  on 
all  the  people  who  were  so  happy  as  to  see  him  in  Syria. 
Every  one  had  something  to  say  in  praise  of  his  bright, 
frank  face,  and  clear,  quick-seeing  blue  eyes,  or  some 
story  to  tell,  illustrative  of  his  good-nature  and  good 
sense. 

Those  who  accompanied  His  Royal  Highness  on  his  tour 
through  Palestine,  spoke  of  his  love  of  fun,  his  brave, 
buoyant  spirit,  and  his  quickness  of  perception,  but  more 


*  In  a  letter  dated  Jerusalem,  September  26, 1861, 1  am  told  that  *'  Dr.  Levlsohn's 
work  is  delayed  for  want  of  funds."  Will  not  the  lovers  of  Oriental  and  ancient 
literature  in  Western  Europe  inquire  into  this  matter,  and  assist  Dr.  Levisohn  to 
complete  his  undertaking  ? 


414  DOMESTIC    LIFE  IN  PALESTINE. 

particularly  of  his  implicit  and  ready  obedience  to  his 
governor  and  friend,  Major  Cowell.  He  was  exceedingly 
active,  and  he  very  much  enjoyed  outdoor  exercises  and 
sports,  and  the  freedom  of  tent  life.  He  never  sacrificed 
comfort  to  state,  unless  etiquette  obliged  him  to  do  so. 
For  instance,  whenever  a  Mutsellim  sent  him  a  splendidly- 
caparisoned  horse,  with  a  richly-wrought  and  embossed 
saddle,  he  only  mounted  it  for  a  few  minutes,  or  on  some 
special  occasion,  just  to  acknowledge  the  courtesy,  for  he 
preferred  his  own  plain  English  saddle.  When  he  ap- 
proached Hebron,  he  was  riding,  as  a  duty,  in  state,  on  one 
of  the  Pasha's  favorite  horses.  Hundreds  of  people  had 
assembled  to  do  homage  to  him.  He  good-naturedly  and 
cheerfully  returned  their  greetings,  then  leaped  from  the 
gorgeous  saddle,  ran  through  the  crowd  to  the  spot  chosen 
for  the  encampment,  took  up  a  large  hammer,  and  began  to 
drive  in  the  pegs  for  the  tent-ropes  most  lustily,  greatly  to 
the  surprise  of  the  stately  Orientals.  One  of  the  ship's 
boats  was  conveyed  by  camels  from  Yafa  to  the  Dead  Sea, 
that  His  Royal  Highness,  who  is  very  fond  of  boating, 
might  have  an  opportunity  of  rowing  on  its  heavy  waters. 
He  also  navigated  the  Lake  of  Tiberias. 

On  Wednesday,  the  6th  of  April,  the  royal  midshipman 
explored  'Akka,  and  then  joined  his  ship  to  proceed  to 
Beirut.  He  was  the  first  English  prince  who  visited  the 
Holy  Land  since  the  time  of  the  Crusades. 

On  Sunday  afternoon,  April  17th,  my  brother  and  I  were 
reading  together  at  the  Vice-Consulate,  when  suddenly  we 
were  disturbed  by  the  abrupt  entrance  of  a  tall  black  slave 
and  six  Moslem  boys.  They  closed  the  door  of  the  room 
the  moment  that  they  were  all  safe  within  it.  They  looked 
frightened,  fatigued,  and  excited,  as  if  they  were  seeking 
escape  from  some  great  danger.  The  boys  caught  hold  of 
us,  kissed  our  hands  and  our  garments  vehemently,  and 
cried  out,  "  Ana  dakhaliek  !  Ana  dakhaliek  1"^ 

*  "Ana  dakhaliek"  will  scarcely  admit  of  translation  into  English.    It  moans, 
"  I  am  your  prot6g6."    Among  Bedouin  tribes  there  is  an  ancient  law  called  the 


SEEKING  PROTECTION.  415 

I  immediately  perceived  tliat  the  boys  were  the  sons  and 
nephews  of  my  old  friend,  Saleh  Bek  Abdul  Hady.  The 
slave  who  was  with  them  explained,  in  a  few  hurried 
words,  that  Arrabeh  was  being  besieged  by  Turkish  troops', 
assisted  by  the  Jerrar  and  the  Tokan  factions,  and  that  the 
Abdul  Hady  family  had  no  hope  of  being  able  to  defend 
the  town,  so  Saleh  Bek  sent  his  young  sons  away,  to  seek 
an  asylum  in  Haifa.  The  boys  were  fully  persuaded  that 
they  should  be  in  safety  if  they  could  only  reach  the 
English  Vice-Consulate.  They  had  met  with  many  narrow 
escapes  on  the  road.  The  slave  concluded  by  saying, 
"  Thank  God,  I  have  seen  these  children  in  safety  under 
the  roof  of  my  lord,  their  protector !"  Then  he  hastened 
away,  before  we  could  answer  him. 

The  boys  were  very  tired.  They  had  crouched  down  on 
the  carpet,  close  to  my  side,  and  two  of  them  had  taken 
firm  hold  of  my  dress.  They  said,  "  Ya  habeebee !  ya  sit- 
tee  Inglesi !"  (0  beloved  1  O  my  English  lady !)  "  you 
will  protect  us — you  will  not  let  them  take  us  to  prison — 
you  will  not  send  us  away  1" 

They  watched  my  brother's  countenance  anxiously  while 
he  was  speaking  to  me  in  English,  for  they  did  not  know 
whether  to  hope  or  to  fear.  They  said  to  me,  "Speak  to 
the   Consul  for  us.     Speak  good  words  for  us,  O  lady!" 

We  ordered  food  to  be  immediately  prepared  for  the 
boys.  They  heard  the  order  given,  and  one  of  them  ex- 
claimed, "  We  can  not  eat  till  the  Consul  gives  us  hope  of 
his  protection." 

My  brother  then  said,  "  I  will  do  all  I  can  for  you,  my 
boys.     Eat  now,  and  peace  be  upon  you." 

law  of  "dakhal."  An  escaped  prisoner,  or  a  man  in  danger  of  being  captured  by 
an  enemy,  may  by  this  law  claim  refuge  in  the  tent  of  an  Arab,  even  in  the  en- 
campment of  an  opposing  tribe.  The  refugee  enters  the  tent,  takes  hold  of  the 
robe  of  the  occupant,  and  exclaims,  "Ana  dakhaliek!"  and  thus  becomes  a 
"dakhiel"  or  protege.  A  true  Arab  will  defend  his  "dakhiel"  with  his  life. 
The  law  of  "dakhal"  is,  however,  only  in  full  force  among  those  tribes  who  are, 
by  their  strength  or  geographical  position,  independent  of  the  Turkish  govern- 
ment. Among  tribes  in  which  the  law  is  maintained,  a  man  who  proved  false  to 
his  dakhiel  would  be  disgraced  for  life !  The  expression  "  Ana  dakhaliek  "  is  used 
by  town  Arabs  as  a  term  of  endearment,  implying  perfect  reliance  and  trust. 


416  DOMESTIC  LIFE  IN  PALESTINE. 

While  they  were  eating,  my  brother  reminded  me  that  it 
was  against  the  law  for  him  to  interfere  to  protect  a  Turk- 
ish subject;  but  that,  as  these  boys  were  too  young  to  have 
offended  personally,  he  decided  on  writing  to  his  superiors 
in  office,  the  Consul  and  Consul-General,  to  explain  the 
circumstances,  and  to  consult  them  on  the  subject.  He 
added,  "  I  will  take  care  of  the  boys  till  I  receive  instruc- 
tions how  to  act.  In  the  mean  time,  we  may  hope  that 
Saleh  Bek  will  be  able  to  show  that  he  is  not  implicated  in 
this  rebellion." 

This  plan  he  at  once  carried  out,  and  sent  special  mes- 
sengers to  Jerusalem  and  Beirut.  Soon  afterward,  as  we 
expected,  the  Governor,  with  several  soldiers,  came  to 
claim  the  boys  as  prisoners.  My  brother  informed  him 
of  his  decision,  and  the  Governor  politely  withdrew ;  but  a 
sentinel  was  placed  to  watch  near  the  door  of  the  Vice- 
Consulate,  ready  to  take  into  custody  any  of  the  boys  who 
might  venture  to  go  out.  This  watch  was,  however,  aban- 
doned in  a  few  days. 

We  gave  the  boys  the  use  of  one  room,  and  whenever 
we  went  out,  they  locked  themselves  in  from  the  inside, 
and  did  not  venture  to  open  the  door  till  they  heard  our 
voices.  When  they  knew  that  I  only  was  at  home,  they 
used  to  say,  "  Perhaps  the  Governor  will  come,  and  try  to 
make  you  give  us  up — but  you  will  be  firm  for  us,  and 
strong — you  will  not  let  him  take  us  away  to  prison,  even 
if  he  should  ask  for  us  ever  so  fiercely."  They  told  me 
that  their  sister  Asm6  died  soon  after  her  marriage,  and 
they  said,  "  Perhaps  we  alone  of  our  family  remain  living." 

On  Friday,  the  22d,  about  midday,  the  sound  of  tum- 
tums,  and  loud  shouts,  attracted  me  to  the  window,  and  I 
shuddered  on  seeing  a  regiment  of  Turkish  infantry  march- 
ing through  Haifa.  They  had  come  from  Arrabeh.  The 
town  had  been  taken,  and  these  soldiers  had  had  the  priv- 
ilege of  pillaging  the  place  for  an  hour  or  more.  It  was 
said  that  they  had  secured  some  valuable  jeweled  pipes, 
ancient   gold   coins,    necklaces,    chains,    head-dresses,   and 


PRISONERS   FROM   ARRABEH.  417 

other  valuables.  They  looked  very  barbarous  and  fierce, 
elated  as  they  were  with  success  and  plunder.  They  had 
charge  of  a  band  of  handcuffed  prisoners  from  Arrabeh, 
who  were  to  be  conveyed  to  the  galleys  at  'Akka. 

The  poor  boys,  after  this  sight,  were  more  alarmed  and 
distressed  than  ever,  for  we  had  not  been  able  to  ascertain 
with  certainty  the  fate  of  their  fathers,  though  it  was  said 
that  they  had  escaped  beyond  Jordan. 

It  was  reported  that  the  town  had  been  quite  destroyed, 
all  the  women  and  children  barbarously  murdered,  and 
nearly  all  the  men  killed  or  taken  prisoners.  We  did  not 
discover,  till  some  time  afterward,  that  this  was,  to  a  great 
extent,  an  Oriental  exaggeration.  The  poor  boys  were  left 
in  terror,  suspense,  and  doubt.  They  could  not  tell  whether 
they  were  orphans  or  no.  The  youngest  boy,  who  was 
about  ten  or  eleven,  said  to  me  one  day,  "  If  my  father  has 
been  killed,  God  grant  that  I  may  live  to  be  a  strong  man, 
that  I  may  revenge  his  death!"  It  was  difficult  sometimes 
to  know  how  to  soothe  or  answer  the  excited  children. 

There  were  several  other  refugees  from  Arrabeh  in  town, 
but  they  were  all  soon  taken  prisoners,  and  conducted  to 
'Akka.  My  little  proteges,  or  dakhiels  as  they  were  called, 
seemed  to  be  forgotten.  My  brother  removed  them  to  a 
neighboring  house,  where  they  were  taken  care  of  by 
Moslems. 

On  Friday,  May  6th,  after  the  post  had  come  in,  my 
brother  handed  my  packet  to  me,  and  then  went  out.  I 
was  absorbed  in  letters  from  England,  when,  suddenly, 
four  of  my  proteges  burst  into  the  room,  and  jumped  on  to 
the  broad  divan  where  I  was  seated.  Two  of  them  got  be- 
hind me,  and  threw  their  arms  over  my  neck,  and  the  other 
two  tried  to  cover  themselves  with  the  skirt  of  my  dress. 
They  were  all  crying  and  trembling  violently,  and  could 
only  say,  sobbingly,   "  Ana   dakhaliek !    Ana  dakhaliek !" 

Before  I  had  learned  from  them  the  cause  of  their  new 
trouble,  the  Governor,  attended  by  two  military  officers  and 
several  common  soldiers,  fully  armed,  entered  the  room. 


418  DOMESTIC  LIFE  IN  PALESTINE. 

The  boys  actually  shrieked  with  terror  and  despair,  cling- 
ing to  me  more  desperately  than  before.  I  half  rose  and 
asked  the  Governor  to  take  a  seat  by  my  side.  The  soldiers 
stood  in  a  row  before  the  door,  and  the  officers  sat  near  to 
them.  After  we  had  exchanged  customary  greetings,  the 
Governor  showed  me  an  official  order  for  the  apprehension 
of  the  boys,  who  were  crying  so  convulsively  that  I  could 
not  help  crying  also ;  and  the  Governor  himself  seemed 
affected. 

I  said,  as  calmly  as  I  could,  "  Tell  me,  my  lord,  to  what 
place  are  these  children  to  be  taken?"  He  said,  "To 
'Akka,  to  the  presence  of  his  excellency  the  Pasha,  0 
lady."  The  boys  cried,  "  We  will  not  go  to  'Akka,  unless 
our  English  lady,  our  protector,  will  go  with  us.  You 
may  kill  us  here,  but  you  can  not  take  us  from  her." 
They  said  much  more,  which  I  could  not  understand;  for 
they  spoke  vehemently  and  rapidly,  and  all  at  once. 

I  tried  to  calm  them,  and  inquired  where  the  other  boys 
were.  The  eldest  one  said,  "  They  are  prisoners.  We 
were  together,  when  we  heard  the  footsteps  and  the  voices 
of  the  soldiers.  We  jumped  out  of  a  high  window  into 
the  street,  to  come  to  you;  but  our  youngest  brother  fell 
and  broke  his  foot,  so  that  he  could  not  run — and  he  and 
his  cousin,  who  staid  to  help  him,  were  taken  away  by 
the  soldiers — but  we  escaped  to  this  house." 

The  Governor  then  spoke  kindly  to  the  children,  saying, 
*'  Your  brothers  are  quite  safe.  Come  with  me,  and  I  will 
lead  you  to  them.  Do  not  think  that  you  are  my  prisoners ; 
I  will  be  as  a  father  to  you,  and  you  shall  be  my  sons." 
But  the  boys  refused  to  be  comforted.  They  had  heard 
that  a  reward  had  been  offered  for  the  capture  of  their 
fathers,  dead  or  alive,  and  they  had  no  faith  nor  hope  in 
any  Turkish  officer. 

The  Governor  would  willingly  have  saved  them,  had  it 
been  in  his  power,  but,  as  he  said,  he  was  only  acting  as 
agent,  and  was  bound  to  convey  them  all  to  'Akka. 

I  had  already   explained   to   the  boys  that  my  brother 


419 

could  only  afford  them  conditional  protection,  but  they  had 
such  unbounded  and  childlike  confidence  in  my  power  and 
will  to  take  care  of  them,  that  they  were  filled  with  aston- 
ishment when  I  told  them,  as  tenderly  as  I  could,  that  they 
must  submit  to  the  Governor,  and  go  with  him.  Their  re- 
newed tears  and  sobs  quite  overcame  me.  As  I  tried  to 
disengage  myself  from  their  embraces,  they  prayed  pas- 
sionately that  I  would  not  forsake  them.  One  boy  said, 
"Ask  the  Grovernor  to  give  our  little  brother  to  you.  He 
is  sick — let  him  be  brought  to  you.  0,  my  brother — my 
brother !"  Another  said,  "  Darling  lady,  do  not  let  him 
take  us  away.     Protect  us — save  us  I" 

They  were  still  clinging  to  me.  The  Governor  rose. 
There  were  tears  in  his  eyes,  and  he  said,  "  Lady,  I  can 
not  bear  to  see  your  sorrow  " — then,  to  my  great  wonder, 
he  took  leave  of  me,  spoke  to  the  boys  gently,  and  went 
out  with  all  his  attendants. 

Shortly  afterward  my  brother  returned,  and  after  speak- 
ing a  few  soothing  words  to  the  children,  who  were  still 
sobbing,  he  said  to  me,  "  We  will  leave  the  boys  here, 
while  we  breakfast."  So  I  went  with  him  unsuspiciously 
into  an  adjoining  room.  We  had  not  been  seated  many 
minutes,  when  I  heard  the  tramp  of  soldiers  in  the  court 
of  the  house.  I  looked  out,  and  saw  the  poor  boys  being 
led  away  down  the  steps.  They  were  crying  sadly,  but 
offering  no  resistance.  The  Governor  himself  led  the  eld- 
est boy  with  gentle  firmness,  and  the  younger  boys  were 
conducted  one  by  one  by  the  soldiers.  I  looked  on  in 
silence,  and  they  did  not  see  me  again. 

My  brother  then  told  me  that  he  had  received  by  post 
an  order  to  give  up  the  boys,  and  had  hoped  to  be  able  to 
execute  it  without  my  knowledge.  It  was  chiefly  in  antici- 
pation of  this  order  that  he  had  removed  the  boys  from  the 
Vice-Consulate,  that  I  might  not  see  them  made  prisoners. 
He  added,  "  When  I  came  in  just  now,  I  met  the  Governor. 
He  seemed  quite  disturbed,  and  said,  '  O  Mr.  Rogers,  I  beg 
you  to  cheat  your  sister  for  us.     The  Abdul  Hady  boys  are 


420  DOMESTIC  LIFE  IN  PALESTINE. 

with  her,  and  I  can  not  take  them  from  her.  Her  sorrow 
is  too  great  for  me.  Cheat  her,  and  let  the  boys  be  left 
alone,  and  I  will  come  again  for  them.'  " 

On  hearing  this,  I  begged  to  be  allowed  to  speak  a  word 
to  the  Governor.  My  brother  did  not  object,  so  I  sent  a 
kawass  to  ask  him  to  come  to  me  for  a  minute,  before 
starting  for  'Akka.  He  kindly  came,  and  I  inquired  seri- 
ously what  he  expected  would  be  the  fate  of  the  boys.  He 
said,  "  Because  of  their  youth,  and  because  they  are  of  a 
high  family,  I  think  that  they  will  be  gently  treated,  and 
held  only  till  they  shall  be  redeemed.  I  will  myself  con- 
duct them  to  the  Pasha,  instead  of  sending  them  with  the 
soldiers,  and  I  will  in  your  name  speak  in  their  behalf." 
I  said,  "Will  you  let  me  have  news  of  them  as  soon  as 
possible?"  He  promised  to  do  so,  and  kept  his  word.  In 
a  few  days,  a  horseman  came  from  'Akka  to  greet  me,  in 
the  name  of  the  Pasha,  to  assure  me  that  the  boys  were  in 
good  health,  were  well  fed,  and  well  lodged  in  an  apartment 
of  the  seraglio ;  and  though  they  were  not  allowed  to  go 
outside  the  city,  or  even  into  the  streets,  they  walked  every 
day  on  the  ramparts  as  much  as  they  pleased — they  were 
detained  simply  as  hostages,  and  were  treated  almost  as 
guests.  His  Excellency  wished  me  to  know  that  he  had 
given  them  each  new  tarbushes,  new  shoes,  and  changes  of 
under  and  outer  garments,  and  had  sworn  by  the  life  of  his 
son  that  not  a  hair  of  their  heads  should  be  hurt.  I  re- 
ceived several  messages  afterward,  all  to  the  same  effect.* 

At  this  time  we  were  busy  making  preparations  for  a 
visit  to  England.  We  had  made  arrangements  to  spend 
the  Summer  months  there;  but  when  all  was  in  readiness 

*  To  make  this  incident  more  clear,  1  must  explain  that  Mahmoud  Bek  Ahdul 
Hady,  after  having  been  displaced  on  account  of  serious  complaints  made  against 
him,  had  in  1858  been  reappointed  to  the  governorship  of  Nablds  by  the  late 
Kourshid  Pasha,  for  the  consideration,  it  is  said,  of  a  largo  bribe  paid  at  the  Serai. 
But  in  January,  1859,  Mahmoud  was  arrested  without  opposition  and  sent  to 
BeirQt,  and  Riza  Bey,  a  Turk,  succeeded  him.  In  April,  a  military  expedition 
was  sent  to  Arrabeh  to  arrest  all  the  leaders  and  factious  members  of  the  Abdul 
Hady  family,  and  all  those  who  were  implicated  in  the  NablQs  riots  of  1856.  The 
people  resisted,  and  the  town  was  besieged  by  the  Turkish  troops,  assisted  by  two 
opposing  and  equally  notorious  factions.    It  is  the  Turkish  policy  to  set  one  inter- 


HANNE,   THE   MAID-SERVANT.  421 

for  the  trip,  the  Vice-Consul  found  that  he  could  not  leave 
his  post,  and  I  was  obliged  to  make  up  my  mind  to  travel 
by  myself,  for  loud  voices  were  calling  to  me  from  my 
English  home.  All  the  Austrian  steamers  had  been  re- 
called, to  swell  the  Austrian  fleet;  so  my  brother  planned 
to  take  me  to  Beirut  by  a  Russian  steamer,  and  then  to 
place  me  on  board  an  English  merchant  steamship  bound 
for  England. 

Hanne,  my  Arab  maid-servant — a  daughter  of  Angelina, 
the  bride-dresser  —  an  affectionate  girl  of  seventeen  or 
eighteen,  who  had  been  with  me  nearly  three  years,  begged 
earnestly  to  go  with  me ;  and  when  I  explained  that  I 
could  not  take  her,  she  said,  with  passionate  and  impetuous 
eloquence,  "  Why  did  you  mahe  me  love  you^  if  you  meant 
to  leave  me  ?  Why  did  you  take  me  from  my  mother,  and 
teach  me  to  like  the  life  of  the  Inglese,  if  you  must  send 
me  away  to  live  like  an  Arab  again?  I  can  not  live  with 
Axabs  any  more."  I  had  not  attempted  to  teach  her  En- 
glish, and  she  had  only  acquired  three  or  four  words. 
She  had  not  in  any  respect  changed  her  mode  of  dress,  but 
had  learned  to  appreciate  neatness  and  order,  and  could 
not  bear  the  idea  of  the  uneven  floors  of  earth  and  the  un- 
plastered  and  smoke-blackened  walls  of  the  houses  of  the 
poorer  class  of  Arabs.  I  reasoned  with  her,  and  showed 
her  how  happy  she  might  make  an  Arab  home,  and  how 
she  could  render  me  a  much  greater  service  by  remaining 
in  Haifa  than  by  accompanying  me  to  England. 

On  June  2d  she  came  to  my  bedside,  before  sunrise,  and 
awoke  me,   saying,   "  Ana   dakhaliek,  ya  habibi  !" — "  The 

est  against  another,  and  affairs  become  very  complicated  when  at  one  time  the 
troops  are  fighting  for  and  with  a  faction,  and  a  few  months  afterward  are  em- 
ployed to  fight  against  it.  The  town  of  Arrabeh  was  not  so  much  injured  as  we 
had  at  first  been  led  to  believe ;  the  upper  chambers  only  were  demolished,  and 
they  were  broken  down  by  masons  employed  by  the  Turkish  oflBcers,  because  these 
upper  chambers,  with  their  battlomented  terraces,  which  formerly  made  the  town 
appear  so  picturesque,  bad  been  used  as  fortresses  by  the  besieged.  (See  p.  236.) 
The  power  of  the  Abdul  Hady  faction  is  for  the  present  destroyed.  The  leaders 
are  banished,  but  Saleh  Bek  and  some  others,  who  had  not  been  active  agents  ia 
the  affair,  have  been  restored  to  favor,  and  the  children,  my  proteges,  have  been 
restored  to  their  parents. 


422  DOMESTIC  LIFE  IN  PALESTINE. 

steamer  is  here,  and  the  day  of  our  separation  has  come !" 
A  number  of  our  friends  had  already  congregated  at  the 
Vice-Consulate,  to  say  good-by,  and  an  English  traveler 
had  come  down  from  the  convent  to  accompany  us  to  Bei- 
rtit.  We  were  soon  by  the  seaside,  in  the  midst  of  a  noisy 
crowd  of  boatmen,  kawasses,  porters,  and  heaps  of  luggage ; 
for  the  French  and  Prussian  Vice-Consuls  of  Haifti,  and 
the  P^re  Vicaire  of  the  Convent  of  Mount  Carmel,  were 
going  with  us. 

I  went  off  in  the  first  boat,  with  Hanne  and  a  few 
friends.  I  was  anxious  to  hasten  to  the  steamer,  as  I 
knew  that  Miss  Frederica  Bremer  was  on  board.  I  soon 
found  her  in  the  saloon,  and  though  we  knew  each  other 
only  by  correspondence,  we  required  no  introduction.  It 
was  a  great  pleasure  to  clasp  her  hand,  and  to  hear  her 
voice.  She  speaks  English  distinctly,  but  with  a  musical 
foreign  accent.  I  was  in  earnest  conversation  with  her, 
when  my  maid,  who  was  by  my  side  crying,  murmured, 
"Who  is  that  stranger  who  is  stealing  from  me  my  last 
moments  with  you?  If  she  is  not  your  mother,  how  can 
you  look  so  glad  while  I  am  so  full  of  sorrow?"  I  soothed 
her  by  saying,  "  The  lady  is  a  stranger  here ;  she  is  my 
friend,  and  is  traveling  quite  alone ;  she  will  land  presently 
at  Haifa  with  you.  For  my  sake  you  must  try  to  help 
her.  You,  with  the  kawass,  will  lead  her  to  the  house  of 
Dr.  Kolle,  where   a  room   has  been  made  ready  for  her." 

With  her  usual  impulsiveness,  she  kissed  Miss  Bremer's 
hand,  saying,  "  I  am  your  servant,  0  lady !"  In  about  an 
hour  I  took  leave  of  my  Haifa  friends,  with  the  expectation 
of  seeing  them  again  in  a  few  mouths,  and  it  was  with 
conflicting  emotions  that  I  watched  the  little  boats  going 
toward  the  shore  as  we  steamed  out  of  the  bay.  The  deck 
of  the  steamer  was  crowded  with  Russian  and  Greek  pil- 
grims— men,  women,  and  children  —  who  had  spent  the 
Easter  week  in  the  Holy  City,  and  to  their  great  consola- 
tion had  bathed  in  the  waters  of  the  River  Jordan.  In 
the    pleasant    airy   saloon    there    were    several   passengers, 


RELIGIOUS   CEREMONIES.  428 

French,  Italian,  Prussian,  and  Swiss,  most  of  whom  I 
knew,  but  there  were  no  ladies. 

Soon  after  we  had  started  the  captain  of  the  steamer 
came  to  me  and  said,  speaking  in  French,  "  Mademoiselle, 
to-day  is  the  fete-day  of  our  Grand  Duke  Constantino — 

with  your  permission  the  Bishop  of will  celebrate  it, 

and  we  shall  be  happy  if  you  will  assist  at  the  service." 
Immediately  afterward,  four  Greek  priests  in  black  robes 
came  in  and  spread  "  a  fair  linen  cloth  "  over  a  table  at 
the  end  of  the  saloon,  and  placed  on  it  a  quaint  old  Byzan- 
tine picture,  representing  some  sacred  subject.  The  nimbus 
round  the  head  of  the  principal  figure  was  of  gilt  metal, 
and  there  were  several  precious  stones  introduced  in  the 
clasps  and  decorations  of  the  dresses.  The  priests  handled 
this  picture  with  great  reverence.  They  propped  it  up 
carefully,  and  placed  in  front  of  it  a  silver  basin,  filled  with 
holy  water,  and  three  large  silver  candlesticks,  in  which 
gilt  and  ornamented  wax-candles  were  fixed  and  lighted. 
The  captain  and  officers  in  full  uniform,  the  sailors,  the 
steward  and  waiters,  and  the  first-class  passengers  stood  in 
a  group  together,  at  the  lower  end  of  the  saloon,  facing  the 
impromptu  altar.  Then  a  Russian  bishop  and  an  arch- 
deacon entered.  They  were  powerful  and  earnest-looking 
men,  and  were  robed  as  gorgeously  as  if  they  were  about 
to  celebrate  service  in  a  cathedral. 

They  each  had  long  brown  wavy  h'air,  which  was  parted 
in  the  middle,  and  hung  down  in  front,  so  as  to  unite  with 
their  mustaches  and  their  thick  beards.  They  kneeled 
down  side  by  side  in  front  of  the  picture  with  their  heads 
uncovered.  One  of  the  attendant  priests  placed  a  large 
missal  before  the  bishop,  who  read  the  prayers  and  the 
Gospel  and  Epistle  for  the  day  in  the  Russian  language  ; 
then  a  second  priest  prepared  a  censer  and  swung  it,  while 
the  archdeacon  chanted  a  litany.  He  commenced  softly 
and  plaintively  in  a  minor  key,  but  suddenly  changed  the 
melody  to  one  of  a  more  cheerful  but  very  simple  measure, 
and  the  concluding  portions  were  like  shouts   of  joy  and 


424  DOMESTIC    LIFE   IN   PALESTINE. 

triumph.  The  responses  were  very  heartily  made,  espe- 
cially by  the  sailors;  and  the  sounds,  evidently  familiar, 
were  caught  up  and  echoed  by  the  three  hundred  devotees 
on  deck. 

The  bishop  concluded  the  service  by  pronouncing  a  gen- 
eral benediction.  He  held  in  his  hand  a  little  cross,  carved 
out  of  a  piece  of  the  rock  of  the  hill  on  which  the  city  of 
Jerusalem  stands.  It  is  a  rather  soft  stone,  and  is  about 
the  color  of  Sienna  marble.  The  captain  solemnly  ad- 
vanced and  kneeled  down  to  kiss  this  cross,  then  the  bishop 
dipped  a  finger  of  his  right  hand  into  the  holy  water,  and 
with  it  made  the  mark  of  the  cross  on  the  broad,  smooth, 
reverential  forehead  of  the  still  kneeling  captain. 

All  the  officers  in  turn,  and  then  the  sailors,  went  for- 
ward with  earnest  simplicity  and  devotion  to  claim  this 
benediction,  and  Mons.  Aumann  and  several  of  our  fellow- 
passengers — although  they  belonged  to  the  Latin  and  other 
Churches — followed  the  example.  Then  the  bishop  went 
out  on  to  the  deck  to  give  his  blessing  to  the  pilgrims 
there,  and  to  let  them  kiss  the  cross,  while  the  priests 
were  sprinkling  them  with  holy  water  and  swinging  the 
censers.  When  the  bishop  passed  through  the  kneeling 
crowd,  the  pilgrims  pressed  the  hem  of  his  robes  to  their 
lips,  and  looked  up  to  him  as  if  they  regarded  him  as  an 
angel  from  heaven.  Then  followed  a  material  feast.  Large 
cans^of  meat  and  soup,  and  loaves  of  bread,  were  dis- 
tributed to  all  the  deck  passengers,  in  the  name  and  for 
the  sake  of  the  Grand  Duke  Constantino,  the  Emperor's 
brother;  while  the  first-class  passengers  were  invited  by 
the  captain  to  partake  of  a  champagne  dejeuner  d,  la  four- 
chette.  The  temporary  altar  was  quickly  removed,  the  pic- 
ture was  hung  in  its  customary  place  at  the  end  of  the 
saloon.*  The  table  was  soon  spread  with  fruit  and  flowers, 
tastefully  arranged.  The  captain  led  me  to  a  seat  by  his 
side,   and   the   rest   of  the   company   followed.      We  were 

*  Pictures  of  patron  saints,  or  of  the  holy  family,  aro  invariably  seen  in  the 
taloons  and  cabins  of  Russian  steamers. 


FEAST  FOR  THE   PILGRIMS.  425 

twenty-two  altogether,  including  the  bishop  and  archdeacon. 
A  very  richercM  Russian  breakfast  was  served.  The  made 
dishes,  which  were  numerous,  were  composed  of  curious 
combinations,  and  those  which  I  tasted  were  piquant  but 
peculiar. 

A  toast  for  the  Grand  Duke  was  proposed,  and  the  cap- 
tain requested  my  brother  to  start  an  English  cheer  for 
His  Imperial  Highness,  and  "  hip !  hip !  hurrah !"  re- 
sounded again  and  again  through  the  saloon,  echoed  by 
Russian,  French,  Prussian,  Swiss,  and  Italian  voices,  which 
mingled  strangely  together,  with  varied  accentuations ;  and 
the  pilgrims,  on  hearing  or  guessing  the  meaning  of  the 
cry,  repeated  it  as  well  and  as  noisily  as  they  could.  [I 
observed  that  nearly  every  one  at  the  table  spoke  French 
fluently,  but  I  think  that  the  only  foreigner  present  who 
understood  English  was  the  learned  linguist.  Dr.  Rosen, 
the  Prussian  Consul  at  Jerusalem.]  After  a  few  other 
loyal  toasts  and  complimentary  speeches,  in  which  the  Al- 
liance was  particularly  alluded  to,  the  piano  was  opened, 
and  the  national  anthems  of  Russia,  England,  France,  and 
Turkey  were  sung  in  chorus,  while  I  played  the  accompa- 
niments. We  arrived  at  Beirut  in  the  afternoon,  and  when 
we  took  leave  of  the  captain  and  the  ship's  officers,  they 
assured  us  that  they  had  never  had  such  a  pleasant  passage 
on  the  Syrian  coast.  We  went  to  the  Hotel  de  Belle  Yue, 
with  our  English  fellow-traveler.  From  the  lofty  terrace, 
after  sunset,  I  saw  the  Russian  steamer  brilliantly  illumin- 
ated. Its  general  form  was  completely  marked  out  by  lines 
of  light,  and  fireworks  were  thrown  in  rapid  succession 
from  the  deck;  while,  from  the  residences  of  some  of  the 
Greek  merchants  in  town,  rockets  were  rushing  and  whiz- 
zing high  into  the  purple  night  sky,  and  showers  of  stars 
were  falling,  all  in  honor  of  the  Grand  Duke  Constantine. 
His  Imperial  Highness  had  been  recently  traveling  in  Syria 
with  the  Grand  Duchess  and  a  large  suite. 

The  next  morning  I  was  in  a  pleasant,  many-windowed 
room,  surrounded  by  oleanders  and  roses  in  full  blossom, 

30 


426  DOMESTIC   LIFE   IN   PALESTINE. 

and  trees  covered  with  large  white  bell  flowers.  I  was 
comparing  sketches  and  notes  of  travel  with  an  English 
tourist,  when  my  brother  entered,  to  tell  me  that  he  had 
taken  a  passage  for  me  in  the  Demetrius^  a  merchant 
steamer  bound  for  Liverpool.  I  found  it  rather  difficult 
to  keep  up  my  courage. 

We  went  on  board  on  the  following  afternoon,  Saturday, 
June  4th.  I  was  introduced  to  the  captain,  ^  good-natured, 
rough  Sunderland  sailor.  I  was  the  only  cabin  passenger, 
and  although  I  was  on  my  way  home,  I  felt  strangely  des- 
olate when  my  brother  had  taken  leave  of  me,  and  we 
steamed  away  from  the  shores  of  Syria.  But  I  was  de- 
terminefd  to  try  to  enjoy  the  voyage,  and  I  soon  made 
friends  with  the  captain,  who  seemed  almost  frightened  at 
first  of  the  responsibility  of  having  me  in  his  charge,  and 
was  nervously  anxious  to  make  me  comfortable.  I  asked 
him  if  he  had  any  books.  He  said,  "  Only  ships'  books, 
Miss — none  that  a  young  lady  'ud  care  to  read."  How- 
ever, he  showed  them  to  me,  and  I  found  that  they  were 
very  interesting  guides  to  the  Mediterranean  shores,  ex- 
planatory of  the  large  charts  with  which  the  captain  was 
provided.  "When  he  saw  how  pleased  I  was  with  these,  he 
was  at  home  with  me  directly,  for  he  was  an  enthusiastic 
and  practical  seaman.  He  took  pains  to  point  out  how  we 
were  steering,  and  to  make  me  understand  some  of  the 
principles  of  navigation.  He  showed  me  all  his  nautical 
instruments,  and  explained  their  uses,  and  promised  to  let 
me  see  him  take  his  observations  every  day.  On  Sunday 
we  were  out  of  sight  of  land.  The  captain  made  a  divan 
for  me,  of  cushions  covered  with  a  union-jack,  under  an 
awning  on  the  quarter-deck. 

There  was  a  very  steady,  orderly  set  of  sailors  on  board. 
One  of  the  mates,  a  self-educated  man,  spent  all  his  leisure 
time  in  studying  the  rudiments  of  French,  so  I  had  the 
pleasure  of  helping  him  over  a   difficulty   now   and   then. 

On  Monday  morning,  the  6th  of  June,  we  anchored  in 
the  port  of  Alexandria,  where   the  Demetrius  had  to  take 


JEW   OF   ALEPPO.  427 

in  a  cargo  of  cotton.  Here  all  the  deck'  passengers  landed, 
with  the  exception  of  one  man,  a  Jew  of  Aleppo,  who  was 
bound  for  Liverpool.  The  captain  wislied  to  give  him  some 
directions  one  day,  while  we  were  off  Alexandria,  but  found 
that  he  could  not  make  himself  understood ;  so  he  requested 
me  to  act  as  interpreter.  I  went  out  on  to  the  deck,  and 
approached  the  solitary  Syrian,  whom  I  had  not  before 
observed,  for  he  had  occupied  the  other  end  of  the  ship. 
He  was  a  man  of  about  thirty  years  of  age,  and  appeared 
very  intelligent,  but  extremely  timid.  His  dress,  which 
was  scrupulously  clean,  was  of  the  kind  usually  worn  by 
respectable  town  Arabs.  When  I  was  near  to  him,  I  said 
in  Arabic,  "  God  save  you  !"  He  started  with  astonish- 
ment, and,  bowing  down,  kissed  my  hands  vehemently,  ex- 
claiming, "  God  bless  you,  and  God  bless  the  voice  which 
speaks  to  me  in  Arabic !  I  thought  that  I  was  left  here 
alone !"  When  he  found  that  I  was  going  all  the  way  to 
Liverpool,  he  said  fervently,  "  Thank  God !  Thank  God ! 
This  is  good !"  After  telling  him,  in  the  captain's  name, 
that  a  sheltered  sleeping-place  had  been  prepared  for  him 
in  the  forepart  of  the  ship,  I  entered  into  conversation  with 
him,  and  found  that  he  was  going  to  some  Syrian  mer- 
chants at  Manchester,  to  whom  he  had  been  recommended  j 
but  he  had  never  seen  any  of  them,  and  knew  no  one  in 
England.  He  asked  me  how  he  was  to  find  his  way  from 
Liverpool,  and  begged  me  to  help  him.  He  made  many 
inquiries,  which  proved  to  me  that  he  had  no  idea  of  the 
wide  difference  which  there  is  between  life  in  the  East  and 
life  in  the  West.  He  did  not  know  a  word  of  English. 
He  wrote  his  name  "  Shaayea  " — that  is,  Isaiah — "  Ateyas^'^ 
in  Arabic  characters  in  my  pocket-book,  and  a  day  or  two 
afterward  I  wrote  for  him,  in  English  and  Arabic  orthog- 
raphy, the  names  of  the  three  Manchester  merchants  of 
whom  he  had  spoken.  I  also  gave  him  a  letter  of  intro- 
duction to  a  Syrian  gentleman  of  Liverpool.  From  this 
time,  whenever  I  was  on  deck  reading,  studying  the  charts, 
or  sketching,  Shaayea  was  by  my  side,  and  always  watched 


428  DOMESTIC  LIFE   IN  PALESTINE. 

impatiently  for  my  appearance,  greeting  me  with  the  words, 
"Ana  dakhaliek!"  He  appeared  to  me  to  be  a  very  good 
Hebrew  scholar.  He  had  several  printed  books  and  MSS. 
with  him,  and  sometimes,  at  my  request,  he  translated 
passages  from  the  Hebrew  Pentateuch  into  Arabic  literally. 
Thus  the  time  passed  pleasantly.  We  did  not  leave  the 
port  of  Alexandria  till  the  10th,  for  the  Demetrius  had,  on 
the  7th,  been  struck  by  the  Meander^  a  French  steamer. 
Our  figure-head  and  largest  anchor  were  carried  away,  and 
the  mainmast  was  snapped  in  two.  The  upper  half  fell  on 
to  the  quarter-deck,  where  I  was  sitting  alone.  It  came 
down  as  steadily  as  the  funnels  of  the  steamers  do,  when 
they  stoop  to  pass  under  the  London  bridges,  and  so  slowly 
that  I  had  time  to  watch  it  and  move  out  of  its  way.  The 
collision  was  very  violent;  the  head  of  the  Demetrius  was 
lifted  up  on  to  the  Meander,  and  lodged  there  for  about 
twenty  minutes,  causing  great  agitation  and  alarm,  and  a 
running  to  and  fro  on  the  decks  of  both  the  steamers.  The 
mate  said,  "  The  Meander  has  hurt  herself  almost  as  much 
as  she  has  hurt  us,  Miss !"  The  case  was  amicably  arbi- 
trated, the  necessary  repairs  were  quickly  made,  and  the 
Demetrius  proceeded  on  her  way. 

We  reached  Malta  on  the  14th,  and  passed  through  the 
Straits  of  Gibraltar  on  the  21st.  I  had  seen  the  Mediter- 
ranean sometimes  smooth  and  blue  under  a  burning  sun, 
and  at  other  times  plowed  into  deep  dark  furrows,  which 
seemed  as  if  they  would  swallow  us  up. 

I  observed  that  Eabbi  Shaayea  was  by  this  time  looking 
ill  and  weak.  I  think  that  the  food  which  he  took  was 
not  sufficient.  He  had  brought  provisions  with  him,  for 
he  could  not  eat  food  prepared  by  Christians,  and  he  had 
nothing  but  bread  and  Aleppo  conserves,  lemons,  coflfee, 
and  tobacco.  I  tried  to  induce  him  to  kill  a  fowl  and  cook 
it  himself,  but  he  said  that  he  could  not  do  so,  because  he 
had  not  a  properly-prepared  slaughtering-knife  *     I  asked 

*  The  slaying  of  food  is  a  very  important  matter  among  the  Jews,  and  it  is  un- 
der the  immediate  superintendence  of  the  Chief  Kabbi.     No  Jew  may  Icill  any 


SHAAYEA'S  MISTAKE.  429 

him  if  there  was  any  kind  of  food  we  could  give  him, 
which  it  would  be  lawful  for  him  to  eat.  He  only  an- 
swered, "  I  have  plenty  of  bread,  it  is  sufficient  for  me." 

The  captain  was  very  anxious  on  the  subject,  and  often 
said,  in  his  good-natured,  bluff  way,  "  I  do  n't  like  to  see  a 
man  starving  while  there  's  plenty  of  good  food  to  be  had ;" 
and  one  day,  as  he  was  assisting  himself  to  pea-soup,  he 
exclaimed,  "  I  wish  you  could  get  '  Solomon '  to  take  some 
o'  this  soup.  Miss — but  I  suppose  it  smells  too  much  o' 
the  pork!" 

On  the  23d  we  were  off  Lisbon,  and  as  soon  as  I  went  on 
deck  Shaayea  came  to  me,  threw  himself  on  his  knees,  and 
caught  hold  of  my  dress,  crying  pitifully.  I  raised  him  up, 
and  said,  "Why  is  your  heart  trembling,  Shaayea?"  He 
looked  terrified,  and  replied,  "The  sailors  will  kill  me — 
they  will  kill  me.  I  am  afraid  of  them!"  I  said,  "Tell 
me  quietly,  Shaayea,  has  any  one  hurt  you?"  He  whis- 
pered, "I  am  frightened."  I  said,  "Indeed,  Shaayea,  you 
have  nothing  to  fear;  I  can  protect  you.  Tell  me  what 
has  happened."  He  took  out  his  clasp-knife  and  opened 
it,  and  made  signs  as  if  he  meant  to  say  that  he  feared 
that  the  sailors  would  cut  his  throat.  I  said,  "Put  away 
that  knife  and  answer  me  plainly,  Shaayea.  Did  any  one 
on  this  ship  ever  hurt  you,  or  try  to  hurt  you?"  He  said, 
"No — but  they  say  dreadful  words  to  me — they  curse  me!" 
I  answered,  "How  do  you  know  that  they  speak  bad  words, 
Shaayea?  You  do  not  understand  their  language.  Tell  me 
what  they  say."  He  was  about  to  answer,  but  he  looked 
cautiously  round,  and  seeing  that  a  sailor  was  near,  busy 
at  work,  he  would  not  speak,  but  took  my  pencil  out  of 
my  hand,  and  wrote  on  the  fly-leaf  of  a  Hebrew  and  Ital- 
ian grammar  the  Arabic  letters  which  represent  the  sounds, 

kind  of  cattle  or  poultry  without  a  license.  This  license  is  never  granted,  till  the 
person  applying  for  it  has  been  strictly  examined  as  to  his  qualifications.  The 
slaughtering  of  cattle  is  regarded  as  a  religious  performance,  and  requires  rabbin- 
ical and  traditional  learning.  The  knife  which  is  used  is  examined  minutely,  and 
whenever  the  slaughterer  applies  for  a  renewal  of  his  license,  he  must  submit  his 
knife  to  inspection.  The  license  is  revocable  at  pleasure,  either  for  misconduct  or 
for  any  particular  mistake  or  neglect. 


430  DOMESTIC   LIFE  IN  PALESTINE. 

"j,  a,  k."  I  thought  that  he  intended  this  for  some  Arabic 
word,  and  I  pronounced  it  accordingly,  and  said,  "  I  do  not 
think  that  I  have  ever  heard  that  word;  what  does  it 
mean?"  He  answered,  "Hush,  0  lady!  it  is  not  Arabic 
it  is  in  English."  Then  the  signification  of  the  word,  which' 
looked  so  unfamiliar  in  Arabic  orthography,  flashed  into 
my  mind,  and  I  could  not  help  smiling,  as  I  uttered  the 
word,  "  JachJ^  with  its  true  English  accent.  He  exclaimed, 
"Yes,  yes,  0  lady,  that  is  the  word  with  which  they  con- 
tinually curse  me."  "0  Rabbi,"  I  replied,  "this  is  not  a 
curse — it  is  not  a  bad  word;  'Jack'  is  the  English  way  of 
saying,  '  Yuhanna.'  The  sailors  do  not  know  that  your 
name  is  Shaayea  Ateyas,  so  they  call  you  'Jack,'  and  they 
would  call  me  by  the  same  name  perhaps  if  I  were  a  boy." 
He  seemed  satisfied,  and  was  more  composed.  He  smoked 
a  few  cigarettes  silently,  as  he  watched  my  pencil  while  I 
made  sketches  of  the  beautiful  town  of  Cintra.  But  the 
next  morning  the  captain  said  to  me,  "Solomon  wants  to 
speak  to  you,  I  think.  Miss — he  looks  so  miserable,  and  is 
watching  at  the  door."  So  I  went  out  to  him  before  taking 
breakfast.  I  found  him  more  distressed  than  ever.  He  told 
me  that  the  sailors  had  called  out  to  him,  "Hallo,  Jack!" 
and  all  my  attempts  to  reassure  him  were  in  vain.  He 
felt  convinced  that  it  was  a  curse  which  they  pronounced. 
He  asked  me  if  I  had  felt  afraid  when  I  was  first  left  alone 
among  strangers  on  this  ship;  he  added,  "I  saw  the  Consul 
leave  you.  Were  you  not  afraid  then?"  I  said,  "No, 
Shaayea,  I  was  sorry  to  leave  my  brother,  but  not  afraid ; 
we  are  quite  safe  here."  He  answered,  "You  are  safe,  be- 
cause you  are  among  your  own  people ;  but  I  am  a  Jew, 
and  the  Christian  sailors  curse  me  loudly."  I  tried  to  con- 
vince him  to  the  contrary,  adding,  "  The  Christians  of  En- 
gland love  the  Jews,  and  our  country  is  governed  and  our 
laws  are  made  jointly  by  Jews  and  Christians.  We  have 
Jews  in  our  Medjlis,  and  people  of  all  creeds  and  countries 
are  safe  with  us;"  but  he  refused  to  be  comforted.  After 
this  he  would  not  go  to  the  forepart  of  the  ship,  but  kept 


shaayea's  timidity.  431 

as  near  as  he  could  to  me  all  day,  and  at  night  slept  in  a 
nook  between  some  bales  of  cotton,  which  were  covered 
with  tarpaulin,  and  stood  opposite  to  the  cabin-door.  The 
captain  kindly  overlooked  this  breach  of  order,  and  allowed 
him  to  do  as  he  liked. 

I  perceived  that  Shaayea's  timidity  and  weakness  in- 
creased every  day,  but  his  confidence  in  me,  individually, 
was  unbounded.  "Where  are  you  going  after  you  land  at 
Liverpool?"  he  inquired.  "To  my  parents  in  London,"  I 
said.  "Then  I  will  also  go  to  London — I  will  go  with 
you,"  was  his  answer. 

I  told  him  that  this  would  not  be  possible,  and  advised 
him  not  to  think  of  altering  his  arrangements,  saying, 
"  Before  you  left  Aleppo,  you  no  doubt  made  your  plans 
carefully,  and  now  you  must  persevere  in  carrying  them 
out.  You  are  weak  and  timid  from  want  of  proper  food 
and  rest,  but  you  will  soon  be  strong  and  happy  again, 
when  you  are  with  your  fellow-countrymen  in  Liverpool 
and  Manchester."  I  had  asked  the  captain  and  mates  to 
use  their  influence  with  the  sailors,  to  prevent  them  from 
startling  Shaayea  in  any  way,  especially  with  the  terrible 
word,  "  Jacky  I  also  spoke  to  them  on  the  subject,  but 
although  there  was  an  exceedingly  good  feeling  shown  to- 
ward the  poor  fellow  by  all  the  men,  this  injunction  was 
naturally  regarded  as  a  joke.  However,  I  believe  care  was 
taken  to  avoid  the  word,  though  when  sails  were  being 
taken  in,  or  hoisted  hastily,  an  occasional  "  Now,  Jack,"  or 
"Out  o'  the  way,  Jack,"  escaped  the  most  cautious  and 
kind-hearted.  Shaayea  continued  to  express  an  over- 
whelming fear  of  the  sailors,  and  told  me  how,  whenever  a 
Jew  is  alone  among  Christians^  he  is  sure  to  be  murdered, 
and  he  related  instances  which  he  said  had  occurred  in 
Aleppo  and  Damascus.  I  tried  in  vain  to  inspire  him  with 
courage  and  hope.  The  captain,  who  invariably  called 
him  "Solomon,"  used  often  to  greet  him  good-naturedly, 
but  always  in  a  very  loud  voice,  and  generally  in  broken 
English,  with  a  word  or  two  of  French  which  he  happened 


43-2  DOMESTIC  LIFE  IN  PALESTINE. 

to  know;  as  if  lie  had  the  idea  that  in  addressing  a  for- 
eigner, it  was  only  necessary  to  speak  very  loudly,  and  in 
some  foreign  language. 

It  was  this  habit,  I  believe,  which  caused  Shaayea  erro- 
neously to  imagine  that  the  captain  was  angry  with  him. 
He  used  often  to  exclaim,  "I  pray  you,  0  lady,  ask  the 
captain  to  forgive  me !"  and  at  my  request  the  captain 
sometimes  came  out  to  comfort  him,  when  he  would  tap 
him  on  the  shoulder  and  say,  "All  right,  old  fellow,  you 
not  enough  mangezP'  or,  if  it  were  in  the  evening,  he 
would  say,  "Cheer  up,  Solomon,  it  's  all  right;  you  '11  be 
better  to-morrow — dormezl  dormezT  On  the  evening  of 
the  25th  of  June,  Shaayea  startled  me  by  declaring  himself 
a  Christian.  I  said,  "Shaayea,  for  what  reason  do  you  say 
you  are  a  Christian?"  He  astonished  me  still  more  by 
answering,  "For  the  sake  of  the  Messiah,"  and  added,  "Tell 
the  captain,  I  pray  you,  that  I  am  a  Christian,  and  then  he 
will  not  be  angry  with  me  any  more."  I  said,  "I  assure 
you,  Shaayea,  that  the  captain  is  not  and  never  has  been 
angry  with  you;  and  whether  you  are  a  Moslem,  a  Chris- 
tian, or  a  Jew,  you  are  as  safe  in  his  ship  as  if  you  were 
in  your  home  at  Aleppo,  and  if  you  could  understand  his 
language  you  would  know  how  kind  he  is."  But  he  urged 
me  still,  and  I  consented  to  tell  the  captain  what  he  had 
said,  though  I  could  very  clearly  see  that  he  was  only 
prompted  to  make  this  declaration  by  excessive  and  ill- 
grounded  fear.  I  did  all  I  could  to  inspire  him  with  con- 
fidence. I  reminded  him  of  the  courage  of  David  and  of 
Daniel,  when  they  were  in  real  danger,  and  of  their  trust 
in  God.  I  told  him  that  he  might  take  food  from  us  with- 
out doing  violence  to  his  conscience  by  calling  himself  a 
Christian.  I  said,  "I  think,  if  Rabbi  ^lussa  himself  could 
speak  to  you,  he  would  say,  'Peace  be  upon  you,  Shaayea; 
eat  that  you  may  live.'  "  I  added,  "Remember  how  David 
and  his  attendants,  when  they  were  hungry,  did  eat  even 
of  the  consecrated  bread."  He  said,  "God  bless  you,  O 
my  protectress!"     Soon  afterward  he  took  a  cup  of  coffee 


SHAAYEA   COMFORTED.  433 

from  the  steward,  as  he  had  frequently  done  before,  and 
smoked  a  cigarette.  He  seemed  more  peaceful  than  usual 
when  I  wished  him  good-night. 

The  next  day,  Sunday,  the  26th  of  June,  when  I  saw 
Shaayea,  I  did  not  refer  in  any  way  to  the  conversation  of 
the  previous  night,  for  fear  of  exciting  him,  but  I  led  him 
to  speak  of  general  subjects,  such  as  the  commerce,  the 
products,  and  the  manufactures  of  Northern  Syria,  and  I 
asked  him  to  teach  me  the  Hebrew  alphabet.  This  amused 
him  for  a  little  time,  and  while  I  read  to  myself,  he  sat 
near  smoking,  reading  silently  from  a  Hebrew  psalter.  We 
had  crossed  the  Bay  of  Biscay,  and  in  the  evening  we  stood 
by  the  cabin-door,  watching  the  sun  go  down,  red  and  glo- 
rious, behind  the  dark  clouds  which  seemed  to  rest  upon 
the  broad  Atlantic.  Shaayea  said  that  he  was  sorry  that 
the  night  had  come,  and  then  complained  of  feeling  very 
low-spirited,  and  very  tired  of  the  journey.  I  told  him 
that  after  one  more  day  we  should  land  at  Liverpool,  and 
I  gave  him  my  London  address,  saying  that  he  might  write 
to  me  from  Manchester  to  tell  me  how  he  was,  whether  he 
liked  England,  and  to  let  me  know  if  I  could  help  or  serve 
him  in  any  way.  He  kissed  my  hands  and  cried,  as  if 
from  extreme  weakness.  The  captain  requested  me  to  ad- 
vise Shaayea  to  rest  that  night  in  a  sheltered  place,  as 
there  was  a  heavy  swell  on  the  sea,  and  he  would  be  likely 
to  get  wet  if  he  remained  in  an  exposed  part  of  the  deck. 
I  explained  this  '  ■.  Shaayea,  but  he  said,  "I  can  not  go  to 
the  other  end  of  xC  ship — I  am  afraid."  He  seemed  very 
much  agitated,  and  when  the  captain  was  going  to  his 
cabin,  Shaayea  caught  hold  of  him,  and  kissed  his  hands 
and  his  feet  vehemently,  but  the  captain  raised  him  up  and 
said,  "Come,  Solomon,  no  more  o'  that;  cheer  up,  be  a 
man!     Dormez!  dormezT 

He  asked  for  an  eflFervescing  draught,  and  I  requested 
the  steward  to  bring  one  for  him,  and  he  did  so.  Shaayea 
had  taken  one  a  few  days  before.* 

At  half-past  nine  or  ten  o'clock,  I  said,  "It  is  late, 
37 


434  DOMESTIC   LIFE  IN  PALESTINE. 

Shaayea — you  must  go  to  rest  now !  Peace  be  upon  you !" 
He  said,  "  Good-night,  O  my  protectress !"  I  answered, 
"  A  hundred  good-nights  to  you,  0  Shaayea !"  He  took 
off  his  red  morocco  slippers,  and  placed  them  carefully  side 
by  side  on  a  ledge,  and  then  crawled  into  his  favorite  nook 
between  the  cotton  bales,  and  covered  himself  with  his 
wadded  quilt.  I  never  saw  poor  Shaayea  again !  On  the 
following  morning,  as  soon  as  I  opened  my  door,  I  called 
to  the  steward,  and  said,  "  How  is  Solomon  this  morning, 
steward?"  He  answered  very  sadly,  "I  don't  know,  Miss; 
he's  missing."  I  said,  "What  do  you  mean,  steward?" 
He  replied,  "  Why,  Miss,  the  captain  has  been  looking 
ev-ery-where  for  him,  and  can  't  find  him — and  he  's  in  a 
dreadful  way — he  's  looked  in  every  hole  and  corner,  Miss, 
except  in  your  cabin !" 

On  fully  realizing  these  startling  words,  I  reentered  my 
cabin,  which  contained  two  berths.  I  had  always  used  the 
lower  one  as  a  wardrobe,  and  I  drew  its  little  red  curtains 
aside  with  a  trembling  hand,  hoping  intensely,  and  yet 
fearing,  that  I  should  find  Shaayea  there,  but  it  was  not 
so.  The  captain  entered  at  this  moment,  looking  very 
much  agitated.  He  told  me  that  he  had  searched  every 
nook  in  which  a  cat  could  be  hidden.  He  said  that  he 
had  never  lost  man  or  boy,  under  any  circumstances,  on 
his  ship,  and  he  did  not  know  what  to  do.  I  said,  "  Who 
saw  Shaayea  last?"  On  inquiry  we  found  that  one  of  the 
sailors,  who  had  been  aloft  in  the  night,  remembered  to  have 
seen  Shaayea  at  about  midnight,  leaning  against  the  ship's 
side,  beyond  the  foremast.  He  thought  it  rather  strange, 
for  he  had  never  seen  Shaayea  in  that  part  of  the  ship  be- 
fore ;  but  as  he  did  not  suspect  any  thing  wrong,  he  took 
no  further  notice.  No  one  else  could  give  any  tidings  about 
him.  I  noticed  that  Shaayea's  slippers  were  exactly  where 
I  had  seen  him  place  them  on  the  previous  night. 

Every  one  looked  sad  and  thoughtful.  The  general  im- 
pression was  that  Shaayea  had  thrown  himself  overboard, 
but  I  told  the  captain  that  a  Jew  was  not  likely  to  commit 


OFFICIAL   INQUIRY.  435 

suicide,  and  I  suggested  that  some  accident  might  have 
happened  to  him.  He  begged  me  to  go  round  the  ship 
with  him,  that  I  might  judge  for  myself  whether  there  was 
any  place  from  which  a  passenger  could  fall  into  the  sea 
accidentally.  After  examining  every  part  carefully,  and 
making  minute  inquiries,  I  reluctantly  came  to  the  conclu- 
sion that  poor  Shaayea  had,  through  excessive  fear  and  an 
excited  imagination,  lost  his  self-control,  and  had  either 
voluntarily  or  unconsciously  thrown  himself  into  the  sea.* 

All  Shaayea's  property  was  collected  together :  I  assisted 
the  captain  to  make  an  inventory  of  it,  and  then  it  was 
put  under  lock  and  seal. 

We  arrived  at  the  Liverpool  Docks  on  Tuesday  morning, 
June  28th.  I  had  an  interview  with  the  quarantine  officer, 
and  after  having  entered  the  name  of  the  '-'"missing^'  deck 
passenger  in  his  book,  in  Arabic  and  in  English,  I  hastened 
up  to  London. 

An  official  inquiry  was  made  into  the  history  of  Rabbi 
Shaayea's  disappearance,  by  order  of  the  Turkish  Consul 
at  Manchester;  and  as  it  was  soon  known  that  I  was  the 
only  person  on  board  who  had  conversed  with  the  poor 
fellow,  I  was  called  upon  to  state  all  that  I  knew  about 
him.  I  had  kept  a^  careful  journal  on  the  way,  and  was 
consequently  able  to  furnish  an  account,  which  eventually 
satisfied  the  inquirers,  that  the  balance  of  Shaayea's  mind 
had  been  destroyed  by  his  continual  anxiety  and  groundless 
fears.  I  signed  a  solemn  declaration  of  the  above  facts  in 
the  presence  of  a  magistrate,  whose  signature  was  certified 
by  the  Turkish  Consul-General  in  London,  and  a  full  re- 
port  of  the   case   was   made   to  the  Ottoman  Government. 

*  I  did  not  know  that  emotional  disturbance  was  the  cause  and  condition  of 
insanity,  or  I  should  certainly  have  kept  a  continual  and  careful  watch  over  poor 
Shaayea,  but  I  never  suspected  that  he  was  in  any  real  danger.  I  was  strongly 
reminded  of  his  overwhelming  dread  of  imagined  dangers  while  reading  lately  the 
very  important  fact,  that  "the  common  causes  of  insanity  are  such  as  produce 
emotional  changes,  either  in  the  form  of  violent  agitation  of  the  passions  or  that 
chronic  slate  of  abnormal  emotion  which  pronounces  itself  in  the  habitually  emg- 
gerated  force  of  some  one  passion  or  desire,  whereby  the  healthy  balance  of  the  mind 
is  at  length  destroyed."— See  Bucknill's  Psychology  of  Shakspeare,  p.  133.  Long- 
man, 1859. 


436  DOMESTIC    LIFE   IN  PALESTINE. 

The  history  of  poor  Shaayea,  and  many  somewhat  similar 
circumstances  which  I  had  witnessed,  prove  to  me  that  the 
Oriental  Jews  still  regard  blessings  and  curses  with  great 
awe.  Even  a  blessing  pronounced  by  mistake  was  declared 
by  Jacob  to  be  irrevocable,  and  Balak  entreated  Balaam  to 
"  curse  the  people  of  Israel,"  as  if  he  thoroughly  believed 
that  a  curse  would  act  as  a  charm,  and  alter  and  determine 
the  course  of  events.  Shaayea's  case  is  one  example,  out 
of  many  which  I  could  give,  of  the  excessive  fear  with 
which  Christians  are  regarded  by  Oriental  Jews,  especially 
by  the  Jews  of  Northern  Syria.  This  is  a  sad  and  strik- 
ing proof  that  the  Christianity  of  the  East  is  not  the  world- 
embracing,  harmonizing  Christianity  which  Christ  taught. 


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